Hytale as a Disruptive Technology?

So I firetrucked up some group work where we were instructed to talk about a "disruptive technology": a technology that "replaces" another (rough, lazy description). For example, transport network vehicle services (TNVSs) like Uber replace public vehicles like taxis.
Our chosen topic was facial recognition technology...which I had no idea how it is disruptive (but later found out it disrupted fingerprint recognition), let alone the definition of "disruptive technology" itself. I only wrote two lazy paragraphs with very bare-bones descriptions.
Eventually, the group leader ranted about us having lazy answers...especially me because of my excuse of tons of other school work and family matters, so she angrily did 95% of the work for us. I admit, I deserved it, but fudge it, I don't give a firetruck. I HATE school work. I don't know whether or not to say thanks and apologize though, in case the group leader may still hold a burning grudge or is a workaholic.
I did eventually revise my work based on hers, but she has commented so far on three groupmates' work (not including mine) while saying she liked two students’ parts the best. Another groupmate thinks my contribution is still "konti lang" (little only).

After reading some of the suggestions provided for us by the group leader, I had a sudden thought, "Wait, Hytale might be a disruptive technology! I might consider writing about this in my blog without the firetrucking restrictions of school work!"

Let me explain.
In the Hytale trailer, various development tools were briefly showcased, including the Hytale Model Maker (which also had its own blog post), a filmmaking tool, the "Paint the World" tools (which was briefly talked about in "Custom Content in Hytale"), and live scripting.

Right off the bat, the Hytale Model Maker (HMM) is a disruptive technology replacing CraftStudio, a block-based 3D modeling and game creation software created by Élisée Maurer, the same person who created HMM. Élisée said this about CraftStudio when it was used during early Hytale development: "[The Hytale team was] limited by what [CraftStudio] could do."
I'm not sure what the other major functional differences are between CraftStudio and HMM (besides CraftStudio's game-making features), but HMM allows a shape to be either a "box" (3D block) or "quad" (2D quadrilateral), while in CraftStudio, giving 0 width to a shape to make it look like a "quad" makes it seem glitchy and translucent.

I think of Hytale's filmmaker as similar to Team Fortress 2's Source Filmmaker (used for the official "Meet the Team" videos and Shippidge's "Starter Squad" series) or Grand Theft Auto V's Director Mode (which was used to storyboard the live-action GTA VR).
The cool thing about the Hytale filmmaker is that the user can fully manipulate character animations to get them to act exactly as desired, from facial expressions to joint and muscle movements, allowing for dramatic and lively scenes. If unarmed martial arts moves don't exist in vanilla Hytale, the user can make their own, and I love to see a kung fu or wrestling-themed animation in Hytale.
But back to disruptive technology. The Hytale filmmaker would disrupt the need for a separate 3D animation software and custom-made human models for Hytale-related films. Minecraft animations, on the other hand, required modified human and mob models to properly create lip-syncing and curved limbs.
Oh man, imagine if professors told their students to make a storyboard for a project using Hytale's filmmaker then acted on that animated storyboard in real life.

"Paint the World" would disrupt the need for mods, complicated commands, and third-party software that manipulate worlds on a large scale.
Examples of these "disrupted" technologies in Minecraft are MrCrayfish's Construction Mod, the pocket house command, and MCEdit, a Minecraft world editor written in the Python programming language.
The Construction Mod and MCEdit are heavily outdated while structure-spawning commands are a pain in the butt to learn and type from scratch because they're SO long.
I don't really understand the WorldEdit mod for Minecraft servers.
"Paint the World" does more than just copy-paste structures, as far as I know. As Otium demonstrated, it can change all blocks of a specific type to a different one (or just a different texture?) or replace a wide area of blocks with a different one like using an a brush in Photoshop or an AoE attack. No need to individually break or place blocks; otherwise, our fingers would get sore. I'd save the jitter-clicking for battle, not architecture (except in "Survival mode"). In other words...even Minecraft structure blocks are disrupted!

Live scripting would disrupt integrated development environments (IDEs) because any changes made into Hytale's code would take effect (almost) immediately for all (or specific) players without quitting the game. With an IDE, a program has to be closed before it can be re-run and have its changes shown to the user. ThirtyVirus has an example of this related to Minecraft servers in his video about quality of life features in Hytale.

Besides the artsy stuff...you know how people keep saying Hytale will kill Minecraft?
In other words...could Hytale as a whole be a disruptive technology replacing Minecraft thanks to Hytale's massive amount of content and the fact that it builds on the traits that made Minecraft and several other video games the best-sellers they are?

But we're not done yet. Oh, no, sirree.
Hytale has its own server listing. No need to waste time in a third-party server list.
Hytale has in-game avatar customization. No need to make your own skins or download someone else's to dress like a boss (though custom clothes can be created with Hytale Model Maker). Heck, you can even play as another non-humanoid mob without a mod!
Hytale auto-downloads mods in servers, so no need to install mods by yourself...especially if it's a huge modpack. Finding every individual mod in a modpack of 30+ is a huge pain in the butt considering how Minecraft mod authors do not allow distribution of their mods through modpacks--only through the authors' ad-sponsored links.
And no need to ask your friend on Facebook or Discord what server they're playing in (or randomly enter servers) because Hytale lets you know where he/she is playing right in the server browser. Save the Discord chat for the tactics and the memes, not the technical set-ups.

Lastly...could Hytale mods completely disrupt every other video game? Think about it: if Hytale's modding capabilities are as near-infinite as Hypixel Studios says, we could have a bajillion triple-A quality RPGs, open-world games, first-person shooters, platformers, beat-em-ups, puzzles, real-time strategy games, and maybe even VR games!

What's next? Playing Hytale in a car? I mean, I wouldn't go that far in case I wreck my family's car, but that would be mind-blowing.
How about using Hytale to program robots and eventually real-life military tech? Okay, I might be delving too far into sci-fi territory.

Who knows? Maybe CaptainSparklez's statement of "Hytale is not just a game, but a platform" (emphasis added) is true.
I'm holding Hypixel Studios to that standard.

Behind-the-scenes: It took me about 1 hour to write 90% of this post. School work is much less likely to motivate me to do that.

The final part of my Hytale gang wars series will be posted on January 5, 2020.

Analyzing the November 2019 Hytale Blog Posts

DISCLAIMER: This is speculative and based on pre-release information and Minecraft. This is not to be taken seriously; this is just for fun.

You know, I have a bad habit of being over-skeptical about Hytale. Even after "Rising expectations" dropped, I already took their original claim of "posting every few weeks" with not just a grain, but a megaton of salt. They did post again on July 2019, which meant my salty defenses were worth the wait.
They posted "Custom Content in Hytale" one month later, so that broke down my salty defenses by about 30%, thinking that Hytale was finally becoming consistent again.
But on late October 2019, in a fit of Barbarian rage, I reinforced my salt defenses to 420% as Noxy released a public apology through a thread of Tweets and Hytale itself announced an "update in the coming weeks". Keep in mind that "Custom Content in Hytale" was two months old at this time, so even though the new blog posts were posted a month later, my rage still feels justified to me. (It's totally fine if you think my rage is not justified lololol)

On November 22 (November 23 on my time zone GMT+8), Noxy replied to a poll by Hytale News, saying "Next week [a blog post will be released]. I have a source." presumably referring to himself or Simon, according to Legion Gaming (formerly The Game Gurus).
Okay, I admit this cut down my defenses to...maybe 169%. I think Noxy said that with confident certainty...but of course, the unexpected can strike anytime. The only way to know when a blog post will come out is by actually checking the Hytale website...kinda like that meme I saw which said the best way to know a baby's gender is through childbirth. (By the way, turn on your notifications for Hytale's Twitter account and YouTube channel. lololol)

Anyway, on the day I started drafting this (November 28, 2019), I awakened at 11 AM after a birthday party that tired me out 'cause I beat three kids (one about as tall as me) in karate sparring. I turned on my tablet's Wi-Fi, and to my shock, I was bombarded with notifications of Hytale's new blog posts and music tracks five days after Noxy's "next week" reply. I quickly put on my casual clothes and rushed to the store to read these blog posts with maximum concentration and Wi-Fi signal.

November 2019 development update

Let's get this out of the way first: the explanation as to why blog posts have been slowing down at such an inconsistent rate.

"For our first solo project to receive this level of attention has been amazing, but also intimidating.

Expectations are high and rising all the time, and the level of anxiety on the team has risen alongside them...

Hytale is an ambitious project and we have set high standards for ourselves, but the bar has been raised even higher by the community response. It’s fair to say that we weren’t prepared for the degree of intense analysis that we’ve received, and we’re highly aware of the risks that have faced highly-anticipated games in the past. We know we’ve only got one chance to make a strong first impression with the finished game." (emphasis added)

Yeah, this reminds me a bit of Pokémon Sword and Shield, with Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori stating that they were pressured and saddened by the lack of a full National Pokédex. (I'm glad MysticUmbreon started the #ThankYouGAMEFREAK hashtag to restore GAME FREAK's morale. As for Hytale, Noxy feels "teary-eyed" after reading messages of support for Hytale. Can I "plagiarize" MysticUmbreon and start a hashtag #ThankYouHypixelStudios?)

But back to Hytale. This is why they're delaying the beta: the beta will be the public's first chance to play Hytale first-hand, so they gotta make it near-perfect thanks to the sky-high expectations. (I forgot who said something similar to this.) In other words, go big or go home.

"We’ve previously said that Hytale will be ‘ready when it’s ready’ because we’re serious about providing the community with a game that meets their expectations. We can now be a little more specific. Factoring in the scale of the project and the high bar we want to hit, we’re planning for Hytale to be playable by everyone in 2021." (emphasis added)

To that, I say in Michael Groth's voice, "Bold predictions."

This is actually much sooner and more plausible than I thought, assuming nothing gets screwed up along the way. I was originally undecided on the release date, though in my reaction to ThirtyVirus's speculations, I asserted that I don't care even if Hytale takes 10 years to release, which was clearly an exaggeration.

I actually predicted this post would say Hytale would still be in the state of "ready when it's ready", and to be honest, in my mind, Hytale is still in that state, despite ThirtyVirus's early statement "most of the groundwork is already done." That way, I keep my expectations low and don't go into a violent rampage on my punching bag when things don't go my way.

Well, if things go smoothly, I should be able to play Hytale a few months after I graduate.

"We’re very aware that this is a longer wait than many were expecting..."

CATTLE FECES!

Okay, sure, some were expecting an early 2019, summer 2019, or Christmas 2019 release, but for a game this big, a 2019 release is extremely unlikely in my opinion especially with a lot of "work in progress" content, which Hytale will be showing more often from now on. I mean, have you seen this error message which Noxy posted?

somebody must've screwed up a texture image lololol (intentional bad grammar)

I'd like to talk about this amazing screenshot that was included in the post:

Funny thing is, I didn't notice the bookshelves to the left and right when I was looking at this on my tablet while in my store.
Our store is lit up by strong sunlight during daytime, rather than a light bulb.

My weird first impression was that this is a prison cell because of the pillars on the window, and the prisoner was writing on that table. lololol

To me, this screenshot represents Hypixel Studios's quietness as they work in isolation and sorrow, with the sunlight representing the path leading them to the eventual release of Hytale and the positive reception of the gaming community. Currently, this dark library is representative of Hypixel Studios's feelings of not being able to release a blog post within the promised "few weeks".

(Take my criticism with a grain of salt. I'm not a professional artist.)

Maybe the Hytale community should brighten things up a bit. We should cast Pass Without Trace on each other, sneak into this dark library, and spam Light or Daylight while placing #ThankYouHypixelStudios letters all over the place. Heroes' Feast is optional but highly recommended. lololol
By the way, I actually let Shadrok read a draft of this post, so he and fan artist Dairy Panda beat me to the punch with this Tweet. It got replies from Noxy, Oscar Garvin, BuddhaCat, and the main Hytale Twitter account. Well done, you two, and thank you, Hypixel Studios! You're real kind!

"we’ll be showing more 'work in progress’ aspects of the game, which may include features that aren’t fully polished yet or that may change between now and launch."

I actually prefer to see completed parts of Hytale, but I think this is a much better strategy business-wise. Go for it, Hypixel Studios!

"In fact, we’ll be actively seeking feedback on certain features to ensure that we’re headed in the right direction."

Yeah, you'd better do that. Knowing what the community wants when you show "work in progress" content makes development much faster and more guided rather than completing it blind and having to change a lot of stuff later on due to negative criticism.

Speaking of criticism, expect me to be here criticizing like the lunatic I am. lololol

Anyway, to end this, notice that they did not mention an interval for blog post release like "every few weeks". I'm glad they didn't say it because that's what caused outrage in the first place: not releasing "every few weeks".

That said, it's realistically more possible now to release "every few weeks" since Hytale is "planning to open up much more than [they] have in the past."

I'm still setting my minimum to once a month, though, except for the Hytale trailer's one year anniversary on December 13, 2019. Advanced Happy Birthday to the Hytale trailer!

Now that this blog post is out of the way...

Progress Update: November 27, 2019*

*November 27, 2019 on their time zone. On GMT+8, it was released on November 28, 2019 1:43 AM.

Not to be confused with the development update I talked about before. While the development update was focused on the team's mood and future plans, this progress update talks about the things they've done recently in Hytale's development.

New Biomes

The autumn forest looks nothing special to me so far; it looks mostly like a reskinned forest to me, except for the glowing mushrooms. Well, those should be useful for navigation.

The oasis, however, is amazing. While staying true to zone 2's color scheme, it introduces a feeling of relief and energy with its abundant grass, a bit more water than I expected, and those purple flower things that contrast with the dry terrain and complement the water amazingly.
Supposedly, there will be other creatures competing for the oasis as well, so I may have to cut down the grass and trees to ensure I can see incoming threats. Gang wars are fine since neither side is trying to be stealthy, but I gotta be careful when dealing with predators.

Farming Progress

Seems to be largely similar to Minecraft: till the earth with a hoe (yes, hoes are officially in Hytale), plant crops, and wait for them to grow.

Interestingly, they made no mention of watering in this section, and there's consistently no water blocks near any of the farms in official media. Why are they not talking about watering? Hmmm...

Anyway, let's talk a bit about this screenshot:

This is one of our first glimpses of the GUI outside of a menu like a crafting screen. (FREAKING FINALLY!)

The hotbar works pretty much the same as Minecraft; it's still 9 items. (Why not 10 so we can use the 0 button lololol)

Rarities are shown in the hotbar, as shown by the seeds in slot 2. Although the official rarity "name" of green items is not yet stated, I'm guessing it's uncommon. (The rarities we know so far are common (gray), rare (blue), epic (purple), and legendary (yellow).)

If you look closely at the icon on slot 4, which the player is holding, there's poop labeled on the pouch. (Or pot? idk) This is most likely to be fertilizer, which is made of poop, including cattle feces. Hmmm, how will this work in gameplay? Will it speed up plant growth like bone meal does? Or increase harvest quantity like in Pokémon X and Y?

The bottom right shows a bunch of icons. Three of them have ??? on the bottom; might mean that there's currently nothing to do with any of them. The compass thing has M, which might mean pressing M will open the map. The pouch has E, which might mean it opens the inventory just like in Minecraft. (Yeah, Minecraft players will quickly feel at home with this GUI.)

"The next step is livestock farming and animal domestication, including an animal happiness system that will react to a variety of factors, including feed, the availability of good bedding, and the company of similar creatures."

Immediately, this reminded me of the minigames where the player can feed and play with their Pokémon, such as Pokémon-Amie, Pokémon Refresh, and that camp thingy in Pokémon Sword and Shield.

It also reminded me of the "cage-free" labels I see on packs of eggs where they say something around the lines of "happy hens make better eggs!" I enjoy meals that my mom makes with those eggs, like pancakes and yang chow rice.

From the get-go, it adds a memorable and realistic personality to animals, making it a huge improvement from the aimless, robotic movements of most Minecraft animals. Simply stuffing a featureless enclosed space with thousands of cows isn't enough and isn't pretty to look at for both players and cows.

No. Just no.

I'm excited to see what kinds of rewards I get for properly taking care of animals. Does meat from poorly-treated animals taste "meh", disgusting, or even poisonous to the point of inflicting debuffs? For well-treated animals, does meat give buffs like increasing physical damage and defense thanks to the abundant and high-quality protein and fat?

By the way, does this mean, every time I kill an animal for food, I have to isolate it from the rest of its friends or stealth-kill it to avoid losing animal happiness for the other animals? Either way, my dagger and shortbow are ready.

It'd be even better if I can grapple small animals like chickens just like grabbing humanoids in the Prototype series. That way, I don't have to rage whenever baiting animals with food goes wrong such as a bear attacking a chicken that's too slow to keep up with my ninja speed.

Also, can I carry over some of these farming features to real life? I want to be ready in case of a real-life apocalypse...or at least when I'm too poor to buy things for myself.

New Monsters and Mysteries

Gross.

This looks to me like an "uglified" hybrid of a zombie and a crawler. The wavy pale blue hair might suggest "watery" origins, similar to the drowned.

Fan artist DecLXIV thinks this is "something out of Silent Hill".

Let me tell you first-hand that I am terrified of vertical mouths. Fortunately, this monster as a whole doesn't look very strong to me, so it's not as bad as, say, this thing from Adventure Time:

Now that I think about it, its head kinda looks like a butt.

Those hands look kinda big to me, so I assume the new undead creature attacks primarily by pouncing towards its prey then scratching.

Or it could be a good swimmer.

I'll be ready though in case this monster can shoot some kind of acid.

I'm guessing this screenshot is from zone 4, but I'm not 100% sure. It looks like something that's part of an underground cavern that has been inhabited by a sentient race. There's what looks like a railroad near the NPC's feet.

Speaking of the NPC, armor covers the vast majority of its body so I'm not 100% sure, but for now, I'll assume it's a human.

I see a lot of speculation that this is from an unannounced zone, but I'm too lazy to form my own opinion right now. So far, I see no connection between this and the lightning element, though void (zone 6?) is more plausible.

Another screenshot I struggled to understand because of the bright light in my store.

The creature in the foreground camouflages well with the surrounding stone and plants. Looks like a dinosaur to me, with maybe a little inspiration from the Pokémon Drednaw. (Thomas Frick has been playing a ton of Pokémon Sword and Shield.) I guess this is what they meant with the caption "Why is my glass of water shaking?"
Edit: "Why is my glass of water shaking?" is a Jurassic Park reference.

What is REALLY significant is what's in the background. Look closely in the middle and you'll see Propzie running from a red T-Rex-like monster. It has bioluminescent...I guess, antennae?

Yep, this is zone 4 alright.

Okay, that was quick. They weren't kidding with showcasing more content. Next blog post.

Four new pieces of music from the Hytale soundtrack

I have a strange feeling that this was influenced by Shadrok's questions and request to Oscar Garvin about the Hytale OST. Besides, Shadrok thinks D&D-style campaigns would go well with Hytale and Kweebec Corner thinks "a Hytale D&D server would be so cool", which may have influenced Oscar Garvin to make his D&D soundtrack public.

Note that I know nothing about music, so again, take my statements with a grain of salt.

Herbalist's Refuge

While describing this track, it was mentioned that zone 1 has "enjoyed the protection of Gaia" before. I think this confirms Gaia's status as a goddess, if not some super-powerful being. Kweebec Corner's Gaia and Varyn theory has a little more evidence.

The semi-silence was weird to me considering that this doesn't have a sad theme like "Gaia's Lament" does. (I don't hear it when playing on loudspeaker in a public area or outdoors.)
It's not as weird though when I put on headphones and turn up the volume; there are bird-chirping ambient noises in the background and some long notes. I'll take a wild guess and say that Oscar Garvin expects the player to just look around the forest and appreciate the wildlife. (Fudge it, I'm still gonna look for things to kill!)

When I explore the Biomes O'Plenty forests in my no damage playthrough, "Herbalist's Refuge" adds a magical calming feeling to my exploration, especially when I just stare at the leaves and ponds.

Canyon of the Many Suns

I know this track is related to zone 2, but it hits me close to home in a wide variety of ways.

Similar to "Gaia's Lament", it starts off with a sort of feeling of loneliness and tiredness, which goes well with what Oscar was imagining: trekking through a dry canyon. It hits me the hardest when I'm alone in the store while Mom is napping, when I'm doing a long-distance travel in my no damage playthrough alone, or when I'm joyriding my bike during sunset at areas with few pedestrians and moving vehicles.

Similar to "Night on the Dunes" (besides both being set in zone 2), it starts with a sort of sad theme then becomes energetic at the end, and let me tell you: the near-end of this track reminds me with a TON of things.

The melody which kicks in at 3:21 reminds me somewhat of the musical style of The Sims 3, which has one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time.
Once the chanting kicks in at 4:21, I get reminded of "Id (Purpose)" from Fire Emblem Awakening. Too bad it's kinda short because it has a "legendary" feel to it.

After the chanting, the track ends with a seemingly victorious and peaceful melody to represent the player getting to the "lost temple" Oscar described.

By the way, I play the Hytale OST in sequence based on their order within the blog posts, from "Traveling Band" to "Snowfall", so naturally, the next track I play after "Canyon of the Many Suns" is "Ancient Tombs", and let me tell you something about that transition:

Ancient Tombs

Remember the "lost temple" Oscar described when talking about "Canyon of the Many Suns"? I think this is his representation of the inside of that temple. The way he starts the track, I imagine the player is bracing themself for danger as they prepare to leave the "canyon of the many suns" by opening the hypothetical big and ominous door.

Befitting the creepy theme of an Egyptian-style dungeon, this zone 2 track strikes fear with its quiet yet ominous notes. It makes me want to slow down and think twice as I explore zone 2's dungeons...especially when turning across a corner because a Scarak might pop out and I need to be ready to counter or shoot an arrow.

Oscar Garvin also mentioned "evil magic" when talking about the location where this track is played. Interesting how he didn't say "void magic".

When I listen to this track, I keep imagining the music getting interrupted by the wild Pokémon battle music from Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon.
The sudden rock music fits very well with the creepy theme of "Ancient Tombs" in my opinion, like I'm bracing myself for a battle and I'm ready to pull off some amazing action hero moves.
A wild VOID SPAWN appeared!

The near end of this track has a similar melody to "Canyon of the Many Suns". Interesting connection... I'd be surprised if "Ancient Tombs" was composed first.

Snowfall

Oscar Garvin said, "I write [music] in this ‘roleplaying’ kind of way to try and give a level of cinematic immersion to the player."

Considering how he's a D&D player and D&D encourages players to roleplay their characters, this comes very easily to Oscar.

I'd say this track was released spot-on, considering Christmas was right around the corner. It's not designed to be festive, but for some reason, I get flashbacks in my own childhood when listening to this. Christmas was my favorite time of the year as a kid (besides summer vacation), and it still is now.

At first, though, I associated this track with zone 2 for some reason as I wanted to avoid having the title influence my first impressions of the track. Some of "Snowfall" feels lonely or desolate just like a desert rather than a polar region.
"Snowfall" sort of worked though when I was feeling cold at night while driving across a highway on my way home.
It does not snow here in the Philippines, so I wonder how different it would feel to listen to "Snowfall" in a place that actually snows, especially Norway which Oscar Garvin got inspiration from.

Hytale OST-related Side Notes

Oscar Garvin replied to a Tweet asking for sheet music for the Hytale OST, saying that it may be available upon Hytale's release. For now, he's okay with helping others making arrangements or covers of the tracks.

Speaking of arrangements and covers, Oscar liked my Retweet with comment saying I want "Ablaze" remixes similar to Fire Emblem Awakening (though I'd prefer them in the Fire Emblem Warriors style which uses electric guitars). (In some Fire Emblem games starting from Fire Emblem Awakening, map music has a normal version and an "Ablaze" version; the normal version is typically calm and has soft sounds while the "Ablaze" version has louder, more energetic, and more battle-like sounds.)

In particular, I want "Ablaze" remixes of "Traveling Band", "A New Adventure", and "Canyon of the Many Suns".

I bet there are many traveling bands and new adventurers who are itching for a good fight, though not necessarily in a canyon (even though that's an interesting battlefield).

"Ablaze" remixes of "Kweebec Village", "Gaia's Lament", and "Ancient Tombs" would be weird but interesting.

"Kweebec Village", for example, is typically associated with joy and playfulness, but setting it "ablaze" would probably represent the shock of witnessing an enemy army invading an otherwise peaceful faction.

An "Ablaze" version of "Gaia's Lament" would maybe represent players or a faction desperately clinging on to their last hope as they endure not only the searing heat and raging sandstorms of zone 2 but also the enemy's relentless onslaught.

Just like playing the USUM wild battle music in the middle of "Ancient Tombs", I think an "Ablaze" remix should emphasize the action-packed potential of fantasy dungeon explorers.

Hytale graphics update

Now here's where the big daddy is. I'll tell you why later, but if you've read through this entire post before or seen others' analysis videos, you'll know why.

Real-time Shadows

Real-time shadows are a huge deal for me—probably because I don't like looking at lazily drawn shadows underneath objects or characters in earlier or low-end 3D games.

Considering that I expect Hytale to have much better graphics than Minecraft, I set a high standard on Hytale's graphics, so I was admittedly disappointed when the trailer didn't have detailed shadows.

Compare these two images:

Yeah, the zone 2 trees don't have detailed shadows besides those lazy top-down Minecraft-like shadows.

But real-time shadows can also be used in tactics.

When sneaking around in my house or walking on the street, I know a person is coming when I see their shadow, so I can react before actually seeing the person's body.

In Hytale, when sunlight coming from a window disappears all of a sudden but it's still daytime, that might mean there's an intruder and it's my cue to check outside the house.

(TheLividLion pointed this out in a video that was released after I finished my first draft of this post.)

Of course, there should be an option to use "lazy shadows" instead in case real-time shadows mess with gameplay and prevent players from seeing where they're going while they don't have light sources.

Water Effects

Actually, I found nothing special between the current water effects and those of some previous media. Compare these two screenshots:

Both of these screenshots have reflections, waves, and edge whitening, despite the lower screenshot being released much earlier.

I guess water was made more transparent in this graphics update? I struggled to see under the water in this screenshot:

I know this is from "A peek at some of zone 1's wildlife", but I'm speculating that this really is a super early screenshot that was taken before releasing the trailer. It lacks the water effects in the Kweebec screenshot above. idk.

Bloom and Sunshafts

Not a big deal for me, though I'm curious as to what the screenshots would look like without these graphical effects.

Sunshafts add a cinematic feel, like you feel victorious or hope is near.

It kinda sucks that they're not available on integrated GPUs because I only have a puny Intel HD Graphics, but hopefully the lack of sunshafts don't interfere with my ability to perceive incoming threats.

Other Improvements

I really like how the sun and leaves affect the light blue sweater's appearance. (It's a sweater, right?) The sunshafts really add to how powerful this shot is. Are they also affecting the sweater?

Speaking of the sweater, I like how detailed the fabric is, along with the pants and boots.

Despite the trees being spread-out, this still invokes a sense of danger and the unknown. You bet I'll keep my bow clutched tightly while sneaking around here.

I'd like to see how creators make their own shadows using vanilla Hytale and "build" some amazing things.

THE BIG DADDY

FUUUUUUUDGE YEEEEAAAAHHHH!!! OUR FIRST HYTALE GAMEPLAY VIDEO! Where do I even start? I don't really care about the graphics at this point, so let's do what Hytale expects us to do: ANALYZE IT LIKE CRAZY!

The player with the first person view is Propzie.

Let's get one important thing out of the way: IT'S CONFIRMED THAT HYTALE MELEE COMBAT IS BASICALLY LIKE A HACK-AND-SLASH GAME! This means clicking extremely fast does not make a weapon attack faster than its normal attack speed, but clicking fast doesn't punish the player with reduced damage either. Take that, Minecraft 1.9!

(With that said, for those who prefer to fight in Hytale using Minecraft 1.8-style combat, how about modding in a dagger or sword that can only thrust and block but has infinite attack speed?)

Notice, at the very start, NinjaCharlieT was wielding a two-handed axe at first, then switched instantly to a sword and shield.

Ooh, dual-wielding on the fly!

Round 1: Interestingly, that first maul attack on the sword and shield-wielding skeleton didn't interrupt the skeleton's first attack. It did knock the skeleton to the left, though, since the maul was swung left.

Upon swinging right, the skeleton was knocked to the right as expected. I suppose knocking an enemy to the side means you don't have to strafe in order to knock your enemy into disadvantageous or hazardous terrain? Eh, I'd rather shove an enemy forward with a palm strike or shield bash.

The melee-attacking skeletons give very little time for the player to react to their attacks. It's fine for those with quick reactions like martial artists and first-person shooter players, but not for casual players. Oh well, at least they're weak enemies, so I can excuse a little bit of extra attack speed.

The archers and mages let the player know they're attacking, though.

By the way, the melee skeletons and NinjaCharlieT attacked at roughly the same speed and animation.

Notice that taking damage from melee and ranged attacks are shown differently. For melee attacks, it's shown as a wide arc pointing towards the attacker's location, just like in first-person shooters. For ranged attacks, it's shown as a much narrower arc further away from the player's target.

This is a nice quality of life feature since the player isn't knocked back as far in Hytale as in Minecraft and not everyone has headphones to determine an enemy's location using sound.

YOU CAN KNOCK CREATURES ONTO EACH OTHER? Now THAT's what I call crowd control! Yeah, bludgeons might be game-breaking, especially in SkyWars and similar "push your enemy off the ring" games. pls nerf. (intentional bad grammar)

The skeleton was killed in 3 hits. Either its armor was sturdy, the maul was weak, or both. I'd imagine a maul to do more damage realistically. At least the lack of extra damage weakens my idea of bludgeons being "armorslayers".

Interestingly, the skeleton didn't block with its shield.

Round 2: A charged downward strike disintegrated an archer in one hit while knocking it forward. Well, that's promising in stealth missions, though it's predictable in PvP. It didn't cost extra durability, which is pretty interesting, unlike Combat Arts in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. (I know because this maul has kinda low max durability.) Expect me to spam charge attacks against easy enemies like zombies.

Notice how the charge bar was full for a while before striking. Unlike Dynasty Warriors and Prototype, this allows the player to prepare a charge attack then wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.
That said, I think there should be an option to make charge attacks trigger as soon as the charge bar is full for those who prefer speed over accuracy, though it might be game-breaking in PvP.

Also, did you notice the spike pit in front of that same archer? Kinda hard to build a bridge or cover over it during combat, but the pit is fairly easy to go around.

(Why is that spike pit there in the first place? Unless I was paranoid, I wouldn't place traps on such random, pointless places, even while I'm the Dungeon Master in a D&D game. If I wanted to leave the spike pit where it was, I would've made it bigger to make it harder to jump over, let alone walk around it.)

Round 3: an uncommon Silversteel Blade versus a spellbook-wielding skeleton. It was killed in 3 normal hits.

The sword didn't knock the mage as far as the maul did to the other skeletons, but it makes sense because a sword isn't designed to push away an enemy anyway. Knockback can mess up a player's aim in Minecraft.

The Silversteel Blade didn't lose as much durability as the maul because, come on, it's silversteel. Stone kinda sucks.
Side note: Shadrok theorized about the possibility of combining different metals in the same tool, weapon, or armor piece.

The player picked up the spellbook afterwards. NO WAY, WE CAN ATTACK WITH TOMES LIKE ROBIN DOES!!! GIMME A TACTICAL BOLT TOME NOW!!!

The spellbook didn't do anything special besides charge up a basic magic projectile. I think it's a charge attack-only weapon, similar to a bow. (But does it deal more damage than fists when used as a melee weapon in emergencies? lololol) Unlike the maul, however, the spellbook attacks as soon as it is fully charged, so, combined with its rather slow projectile speed, it requires good accuracy and prediction of the enemy's movement to hit.

Upon hitting, the magic left behind a small, floating green "orb", but it seems to do nothing besides look cool before fading away.

Interestingly, the spellbook didn't lose any durability despite being used 4 times by the player and coming from a killed mob. (In Minecraft, equipment pieces dropped by mobs are usually heavily damaged.)

If this is true for the released game, then fudge it, ALL THREE OF US (me, BoltOLightnin, and YoSquid) should be magic users!

Then again, it's kinda unfair to have a weapon with infinite durability during "Survival mode"... So does the spellbook actually use some kind of mana or ammunition, kinda like D&D spells that consume material components?
By the way, I saw a lot of speculations about the green magic bolts from the purple spellbook suggesting that the magic is connected to zone 1.

Round 4: NinjaCharlieT and the other player, now wielding the purple spellbook, killed a staff-wielding skeleton in 2 hits each.

Interestingly, the staff wielder's attacks weren't as obviously "announced" as the spellbook attacks. The staff just emits a few particles, and the skeleton hardly moves. I still think it doesn't matter which one is used in PvP (assuming staves and spellbooks have the same hardcoded stats like damage and attack speed) because players are skilled at spotting tiny details during combat.

Notice that, after killing the staff wielder, the player did not charge up their spellbook attack. This may be stronger evidence to spellbooks not being able to maintain a charge like the maul did.

NinjaCharlieT was shown blocking with his shield, just like the Trork fight scene in the trailer. But there seems to be nothing special besides not being slowed down while blocking and not taking knockback.

Strangely, the mace-wielding skeleton that NinjaCharlieT killed before opening the chest did not count towards the quest "Kill the Skeletons!" even though a skeleton was killed off-screen right after the maul-wielding player killed the archer. Maybe that mace-wielding skeleton was a naturally spawned skeleton that wasn't part of the quest? Yeah, another piece of proof that Hytale isn't ready yet.

Speaking of "not ready yet", NinjaCharlieT's name tag still looked similar to these:

Original video by EGX
This is a super early screenshot of Hytale.
Yeah, these name tags suck. Élisée's, Winghide's, and NinjaCharlieT's name tags almost overlap and are difficult to tell apart from one another.

Interestingly, NinjaCharlieT's character did not do that chest opening animation shown in the trailer where the staff wielder lifted her left arm 90 degrees. He instead opened it with an animation that's very similar to Minecraft's player attack animation.

NinjaCharlieT swung a two-handed fire sword after closing the chest. The animations were noticeably slower and had more "attack preparation" time similar to the archers and spellbook wielder. (In fighting, it's called "telegraphing".) Well, better not fight me with a two-handed weapon 'cause I can block, dodge, or counter VERY quickly with a shield or dagger.
He also blocked with the fire sword in a pose which kinda looks like Chrom's and Lucina's artworks:

That long red bar above the hotbar? That's the health bar. (Because displaying huge amounts of health with lots of hearts like in Minecraft would clog up the screen.) It regenerates fairly quickly when the player hasn't taken damage in at least 7 seconds, so the player can quickly get back to a battle after some fleeing or stealth.

I actually suspended judgment on what that red bar is before watching this gameplay video.

When health drains or heals, it does so smoothly, but doesn't show the original amount of health before healing or damage. This is not ideal; I prefer either instantly showing the new amount of health (like in Minecraft) or temporarily showing the lost/gained amount of health (like in Pokémon Showdown).

I don't know what those yellow and light blue bars in between the health bar and hotbar are, though. They looked the same throughout the entire video. They could be for pure decoration, but I won't assume too quickly.
Codiak from Legion Gaming has several ideas on what those bars could mean.

Only the spellbook wielder dropped its weapon during the video. This may suggest that, just like in Minecraft, mobs have rare drops, which, in Minecraft, include equipment pieces.

Anyway, how do I end this?

I think this video is one of the major reasons, if not the number 1 reason, why Hytale took SO LONG to release new blog posts. They wanted to show us vanilla combat footage (including magic and charge attacks) which we've been waiting for SO long. They were extremely cautious about how the combat will be received so they needed to get it right before showing it off.

I personally rate this combat 8 out of 10. This is clearly a step beyond Minecraft, building on Minecraft's combat system while effectively inheriting from hack-and-slash games. There are several balance issues though like melee attackers not telegraphing and ranged attackers not walking away from nearby players.
I acknowledge that a "dumb AI" was intentionally shown and Hytale actually has a "much better monster AI" in the works, so my comment about the balance issues is just a nitpick and has only a small impact on my overall scoring.
That said, I'm excited to see the true AI and critique it.

Combat Suggestions

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional competitive gamer, game developer, or martial arts instructor.

• Make ranged attackers slowly walk away from the player if the player is too close, similar to GTA San Andreas. However, do not make it unpredictably "wiggly" like Minecraft 1.9 skeletons. (I'm not 100% sure yet that Hytale melee weapon attacks can hit enemies in an arc like in hack-and-slash games.)
  If the ranged attacker has a melee weapon, give it the option to switch to the melee weapon instead of backing away.
• Make charge attacks do more than simply deal heavy damage. For the maul, it can maybe create a small earthquake or shock wave that damages nearby foes. (Why did it not do the spin attack that was shown in the trailer? Is that a separate special attack?)
• Make enemies telegraph their attacks a bit longer so casual players have more time to block or dodge. Also reduce enemy telegraphing on higher difficulties.
• Allow players to shoot magic bolts as fast as the fire sword's or maul's attack speed. This way, magic attacks won't be telegraphed as much while ensuring defending players won't get overwhelmed like they're avoiding a machine gun. The current magic attack can instead be a more powerful charge attack.
• Compensate for two-handed weapons' slow attack speeds—especially during PvP—by letting players do a dash attack as a special attack. This allows two-handed weapons to quickly reach dodgy players while ensuring that players get to escape or counterattack if the dash attack misses. (If dash attacks were normal attacks instead, they'd probably get spammed to the point that either they're unavoidable or they become substitutes for dodging.)
  Real-life examples of dash attacks include lunging with a sword or spear, a flying kick, and a Superman Punch.
  Outside of fighting: In swimming races, have you ever placed your foot on a wall before kicking it to increase your speed instantly? That's how dashing works.
  While drafting this, my first idea was to inflict debuffs such as stunning or preventing enemies from blocking, but I thought, why try to inflict a debuff if a dodgy player can avoid it in the first place, therefore making the debuffing attack pointless?
• Immediately after blocking or dodging, allow the player to execute a unique and powerful counterattack. (Might be game-breaking in PvP, but extremely useful in PvE.)
  For example, kicking forces a person to stand with one foot for a while. Right after avoiding or blocking that kick, while the person's kicking leg is still in the air, tripping the standing leg would knock the person off-balance and deal a ton of damage.
• Talk to different "kinds" of competitive gamers to find out what makes something competitively viable, in their opinions. To start, I recommend consulting Super Smash Bros. competitors since I see Smash played competitively more often than other fighting games and the battlefield actually matters. Also, Smash has a simple set of controls that is common for all characters but has a lot of intricate and complicated mechanics, making it appeal to both casual and competitive gamers.
• When quickly picking up several of the same item, show them in a single box (such as "Picked up Pile of Bones x2") rather than separate boxes for each item. This will keep the rest of the game screen clean.
• Indicate the specific enemies to be killed in a quest. They could be surrounded with a glowing aura, pointed at by an arrow above their heads, or something. This prevents confusion between quest-generated skeletons and naturally-spawned skeletons, for example, though I'm not sure how to do this without making the enemies too easy to detect.
• LET ME GRAPPLE AND SHOVE ENEMIES INTO EACH OTHER! I'm a huge fan of unarmed combat, dang it! Just kidding; we don't even know if Hytale will have unarmed combat besides maybe 1 damage punches.

Behind-the-Scenes

I wrote 90% of this from the time I woke up at November 28, 2019 11:30 AM all the way to 12:30 AM the next day.

I admit, I slacked off in-between, but still, for a 36-second video, that gameplay clip in the graphics update had a GINORMOUS amount of content. I am immensely excited for others' takes on this combat system and how Hypixel Studios will respond to the feedback. I encourage you to download the assets of that blog post and watch that battle on repeat while spotting as many juicy details as you can so you can confidently say "yes" to this question from Dairy Panda.

PART 5: Faction Defense | Hytale Gang Wars

DISCLAIMER: This is speculative and based on pre-release information and Minecraft. This is not to be taken seriously; this is just for fun.
Though I wish there was a ton more official Hytale information to take seriously.

Welcome to part 5 of my Hytale gang wars series: my early Christmas treat to all of you. Speaking of Hytale, Oscar Garvin also packs a treat for you right here.

You know, offense is important because it makes the enemy less powerful and you more powerful.
At the same time, though, maintaining that power is important, so defense is key.

I've covered many of my self-defensive tactics in my Hytale play style part 3, my rant against fliers and griefers, and my rant against ghost mobs.

Instead, I want to focus on defending allied territory. Besides, as an in-game diplomat, I think defending my allies' territories is a way of repaying the services they give to me by defending my base and letting me use their bases to rest and stock on resources.

But, to be honest, I just don't trust my allies to properly defend themselves. (See Mangs's "I'M A GREEN UNIT" and TV Tropes's "Artificial Stupidity") I guess I'm used to games where enemy armies are typically larger or stronger than allied armies, such as Minecraft where hordes of zombies or pillagers can easily overwhelm a tiny squad of 2-4 iron golems, especially since villages have no defensive structures or walls at all.

This assumes I can't build or destroy in allied territories (except those owned by players); otherwise they'd be all covered in Trump walls. lololol

Defending Kweebecs

Just like attacking Kweebecs, this is obvious: use water magic to put out fire. (Water buckets may not work because, again, no player-influenced building or destroying.)

Kweebecs, unfortunately, may have a lot of weaknesses since they're plant people living in forests. Besides the 5 Pokémon types that are super effective against the Grass type (i.e. Kweebecs would be weak to fire, ice magic, poison, wind magic, birds like the deadeye pigeon, and bugs like Scaraks), they may also be weak to axes due to the weapon triangle and the "Three new pieces of Hytale music" post.
Because I imagine Kweebec villages to have narrow pathways due to the sheer number of trees, this creates a lot of chokepoints, making them vulnerable to explosives and AoE attacks, therefore giving Kweebecs a lot of strategic weaknesses.

So if I want to take Kweebec defense to a bit more of a complicated level, I'd hide all the Kweebecs who can't fight (such as seedlings) underground and station the others on good vantage points like high tree branches (with vines to climb down if the branches get burned) or cliffs, or concealed areas like thick bushes or shallow trenches so the Kweebecs can safely shoot the enemy with their slingshots.
Kweebecs should be separated from one another if possible to avoid losing too many from AoE attacks. At the very most, they should be paired up, so no trios or more allowed. (Obviously, I can't drag more than two Kweebecs out of the way of a fireball because I only have two arms.)

(This paragraph is HIGHLY speculative)
AoE stunning attacks or magic are ideal in helping cover up the Kweebecs' many Pokémon/Fire Emblem weaknesses by ensuring that enemies with super effective attacks/weapon triangle advantages can't attack, allowing us to prioritize one enemy that isn't stunned.
Lightning magic can probably paralyze (assuming the Pokéfans at Hypixel Studios adopt this idea), but I'm not gonna rely on luck. I would prefer if BoltOLightnin can put the enemy to sleep.
YoSquid can use tranquilizer arrows.
I can deliver stunning strikes to the enemies' heads with my fists.

Defending Ferans

Ferans seem to be hardier than Kweebecs since they're adapted to the harsh conditions of the desert and, unlike Kweebecs, Ferans are confirmed to have a shaman so they can magically defend themselves.
It's their trash-tastically built structures which make them weak in base defense.

Obviously, the arsonists and bombardiers should be targeted first, followed by enemies wielding bladed weapons and bows. This ensures that they don't destroy any Feran structures.
Spellcasters (except fire mages) can be targeted last because I imagine Ferans to be more resistant to magic than other factions.

Scaraks are their worst enemies, so anti-Scarak tactics are important when defending Ferans. In case maybe Scarak warriors can grapple with their pincers or legs as their way of capture, my strength and speed can help Ferans break free of a Scarak's grip. Alternatively, YoSquid can shoot the Scarak's leg/pincer or BoltOLightnin can make the Scarak recoil in pain with a small, well-placed fire or lightning bolt (no pun intended).

Defending Trorks

While Kweebecs have weaknesses to lots of damage types, Trorks have a lot of strategic weaknesses, as stated before in "Head-on Raiding Tactics". Throw meat at them or use birds to distract them (as CaptainSparklez pointed out), wait for them to KO each other while sparring, burn their mostly wooden structures...among other potential weaknesses Hytale has yet to show us.
So I'm torn between whether Kweebecs or Trorks are the hardest to defend. You tell me which is harder in the comments. <3

Factions who don't know much about Trorks may charge in with standard battle tactics, though mostly focusing on arson or explosives. Distractions will be less common, so I can use my standard battle tactics, considering I imagine Trorks to be somewhat strong and hardy.
(Unlike Kweebecs where common sense would imply to a sentient creature that they're weak to fire.)

I'll take the high ground to spy on potential meat-throwers.
Once meat is thrown, I'll throw it back to the base to maintain a good defense, mainly on the entrances and wherever enemies can sneak-attack. Trorks need their motivation after all, and what better way to do it than by using the enemy's plan against them.

For birds, I'll just shoot them down. Easy peasy.
If that doesn't work, rock throws or lightning bolts should probably kill them.

I don't think I can do anything about Trorks punching each other because that's their way of having fun. What I CAN do is heal the Trorks that were knocked out...and hope they don't start sparring again.

Trorks dislike the rain (I think), so I should put important Trork items indoors so they don't get stolen by enemies that sneak-attack outdoors.

The Trorks are one of two factions I'm aware of that defend their territories with walls (the other being the Outlanders), which I find to be really convenient because walls can slow down the enemy by forcing them to find an opening through the walls or make their own using block-breaking tools or explosives. This makes them easy pickings for headshots or backstabs while they're breaking blocks or AoE attacks when they're trying to go through an opening, which is usually a chokepoint.

Defending Outlanders

Outlanders are the easiest faction to defend so far because they obviously have strong defenses and units to begin with. They don't have many weaknesses to strategies or damage types (besides maybe plant-based attacks and light magic).

Elemental magic really shines here because of the extreme cold in zone 3.
Water magic can quickly put out fires set by the enemy (especially since zone 3 is officially associated with water), fire magic can obliterate mobs that are native to zone 3, and ice magic can do the same to mobs not native to zone 3 (except fire-based mobs and maybe some zone 2 mobs).

Defending Scaraks

Scaraks, as far as I know and speculate, are very competent fighters. While obviously their workers and larvae are weaksauce, the rest of them would have high stats or well-specialized fighting skills. Warriors can dish it out and take it, Locusts can unleash death from above with whatever liquid is in their abdomen, and Tanks can push the enemy back while taking loads of damage.

Their buildings also look fairly durable and fireproof since they're made of sandstone, but I'd still be wary of bludgeon and pickaxe users. Sandstone is easier to break than stone in Minecraft.

I'd take down fliers first because I imagine that they can exploit the weak backsides of Tanks simply by flying around. I'll take out the archers next to make the Locusts' arrow weakness irrelevant.

Defending the weak units like workers and larvae is challenging though, especially if the enemy is willing to ignore everything else and suicide-attack the workers and larvae.
A wall of Tanks and a colony of Locusts would probably work, but not against fliers, ghost mobs, or ground diggers.
I'm guessing Locusts and Warriors are the speedier Scarak variants so they can intercept suicide attackers before they damage anything.
As for my main squad, I will chase melee attackers while YoSquid and BoltOLightnin will be in charge of killing ranged attackers, especially arsonists, bombardiers, and snipers.
If Ghean will join our fight, she can also help chase melee attackers since she's a sword-wielding cavalier. Not all of zone 2 is sandy (there are some grassy fields), so I think her horse can still move at full speed--desert sand greatly slows down cavaliers in the Fire Emblem series.

Defending Allied Players with Separate Bases

I included this here in case I ever recruit players into my team who build their homes outside my Trump wall.
This is a very broad topic because player builds come in an extremely wide variety of shapes, sizes, materials, and locations, but to keep it simple, I assume that the base looks like a Minecraft village house.

I prefer to avoid changing someone's base unless they let me do it, but at the very least, I'd encourage my ally to have at least 2 escape points like a main door and a back door so if one gets blocked off, the other can be used to escape.
My favorite is making a diving board from a tower to a body of water...mainly just for fun, though sometimes I use it to quickly get to the ground when climbing a ladder or staircase feels too slow.
If I wanna take it a step further, I'd put a hidden underground tunnel from my base to other friendly bases so I can quickly and sneakily help my friends with minimal damage to their territories (i.e. accidentally messing around with their mineshafts).

Arsonists and bombardiers are very dangerous to small bases, even if they're made of stone, as they can affect the residents inside.
Better watch out for archers too because they can probably break windows with their arrows.

PART 4: Raiding Tactics | Hytale Gang Wars

DISCLAIMER: This series is speculative and based on pre-release information and Minecraft. This is not to be taken seriously; this is just for fun.
This is also NOT sponsored by Raid: Shadow Legends.

Welcome back to my Hytale Gang Wars series. We've studied the basics of Hytale gang wars and what to potentially expect from the enemy. Armed with all this knowledge, I will later talk about ACTUALLY ATTACKING THEM! Heck yeah, baby!

Think of this as an expansion of "Destroy hostile factions" in my Hytale play style part 3.

Scouting

I think territories can have variations, even those of the same type and faction. (Think of how every Minecraft village or woodland mansion is unique despite having the exact same building/room templates.) So scouting the territory before raiding is important so we can get an idea of where and how to strike where it hurts the faction the most.

All three of us can scout in different ways. I can sneak past the guards and spy on the building interiors to look for backup defenses and treasure...while stealth-killing along the way. BoltOLightnin can magically detect hidden enemies or identify what magical elements the enemy is using. YoSquid has sharp eyesight as an archer, so he can take the high ground and get a bird's eye view of the territory before sending us a screenshot on Discord.

However, I prefer to be the one to scout rather than my soldiers. I am light and quick, so I can avoid detection more easily, and having first-hand information will allow me to clearly explain the enemy's defenses to my army--besides, I am the tactician...who goes into megatons of detail in his blog posts but not in his school work.

Attack!

Actually starting a raid is the tricky part because doing so will alert the entire base and unleash a huge horde of enemies. This is where information from scouting comes into play, as the first point of attack is a huge factor in determining whether or not we will win.

This assumes that we will be attacking either on land or water, unless we're fighting a faction that lives in the air. In a medieval fantasy setting, I think airstrikes against ground-based enemies would make raids way too easy because we can just bombard them with projectiles without ever getting hit ourselves (unless the enemy has a gun equivalent or laser-shooting superpowers).

If possible, we'll make the first attack by quickly killing the strongest or most dangerous visible enemies. This can be done either by assassinating with a dagger, using an area-of-effect attack like the spin attack from the trailer, or just a powerful single attack like a power punch or headshot with a projectile.

I personally prefer to attack territories in a bullhorn tactic as described by Extra Credits.
The chest would be the main attacking force charging towards the front of the base. I'd fill in that role along with BoltOLightnin (or a melee attacker if we ever get a 4th player). Because of our strong attacks and my high speed, BoltOLightnin and I can easily deal with a large army rushing us.
YoSquid would form the horn, which would attack the enemy from the side and take them down while they're busy with the chest. YoSquid's accuracy ensures that he can reliably chip away the enemy.
The loins, or reserve troops, would be our friendly faction members because I don't like seeing friendlies die. They should only join in when either they're tanky enough, the enemy is weakened, the enemy has prepared an ambush outside the territory, or we're desperate.

Screenshots from my FE8 ROM hack

Alternatively, to split up the enemy evenly especially when all sides are equally well-defended, we can do a triangle attack.
If most or all of the enemy charges towards one of us (preferably me), the two officers who aren't being swarmed can pincer-attack the enemy or sneakily loot or destroy structures.

If the encampment has a lot of wooden structures, simply doing a stealthy hit-and-run attack with flint and steel or fire magic will delay the enemy as they panic and try to put out the fire while the rest of us annihilate the ambush parties.
This does not work on fireproof factions.
To a small extent, it works on factions that don't care about their personal safety; some may get burned to death, but some may escape the base and find me and my army. That said, at least they'll be a little easier to kill.

Vs. Trorks

That Trork encampment shown for the Golden Joystick Awards has only two watch towers with one Trork each, so two simultaneous headshots with arrows, throwables, or magic should destroy their vantage point strategy at the very start.
If Trorks climb the ladders to man the posts, we can just shoot them down since they'd be slowed and unable to attack while climbing.

I overlooked this trait from the NPC behavior post: Trorks spar by punching each other to the point where one of them gets knocked out.
This is REALLY fun to exploit. We can wait until at least one Trork from each pair of sparring partners gets KO'd, then we strike. There will be fewer Trorks ready to fight us...and I can disrespectfully curb-stomp the KO'd Trorks!

Alternatively, just throw meat. That's pretty much it.

Vs. Outlanders

Outlander leaders man defensive posts like the rest of their crew, so we can easily cut down the Outlanders' morale and ruin their tactics quickly with a well-aimed shot as our first attack. A fire arrow would come in handy for this because Outlanders wear wooden masks and are adapted to the cold--heck, imagine if corpses and grass could spread fire to other enemies as well!

This screenshot's file name contains "outlander_leader".
Unlike other Outlanders, this one wears gray fur with a skull on their torso.
Screenshot from Hytale

If a wild animal that Outlanders attack, such as a wolf or bison, is nearby, I'll wait until it approaches the Outlander base and the Outlanders get distracted.

Alternatively, we can sacrifice one of our own animals by throwing its favorite food near the Outlander base, but this is risky in case Shadrok's animal sacrifice theory is true--this could raise the Outlanders' stats and/or morale or allow them to cast certain spells.

I imagine Outlanders to be heavily reliant on their defensive structures because of how fortified and well-designed their bases are.

So, if we choose not to go for the leader, we can set up a long-range TNT cannon or just spam goblin bombs at their structures to destroy clusters of Outlanders (though not necessarily their structures in case they're unbreakable). I am the most muscular in our group of three, so I can throw the farthest.

(Some of their structures are made of stone, so fire won't spread very well.)

If Kweebecs can absorb water like plant roots can, could Kweebecs be effective against Outlander priests?

Vs. Scaraks

Scarak archetype concept art by Hytale

This one is probably the toughest of the factions I'm aware of, besides Varyn's faction.
While the other factions as a whole have clear weaknesses based on their lore and physiology, Scaraks do not--while they are clearly insectoid, I don't imagine them to be weak to fire because they live in zone 2 and some of them are so big that they can't be squashed with a blunt weapon like real-life cockroaches can.

But not all Scaraks have zero apparent weaknesses. Locusts are fliers, so, based on my Fire Emblem knowledge, they'd be weak to bows. Have you ever popped the abdomen (i.e. the fat back part) of a cockroach? That's what I think shooting down a Locust Scarak is like.
We'd better carry antidotes though--poison can be an annoying status condition.

I guess I just fight the Warrior like a normal enemy--simply stab it several times with my spear. Maybe it can fly for a few seconds at a time, but it doesn't matter because I can simply roll out of the way as usual.

The Tank (a.k.a. the Shield) is the hardest part besides the Broodmother, especially if it executes its wall-making tactic from the concept art and we can't break blocks.
I suppose we can hammer away at it with blunt weapons, but just in case they don't take as much damage from bludgeons as other armored foes, we can just spam magic.
Alternatively, if we're in an open field and I can perform acrobatic stunts, I can stunt-jump behind it and strike its vulnerable back.

It's probably too early to assume what the Broodmother does, though I guess it can spit poison just like Locusts and can command other Scaraks.
I wanna pop that huge abdomen with a spear or arrow, but again, assuming is too early; it may have a sturdy abdomen...just like my own abs. (No, seriously, I have six-pack abs. I've been punched in the gut by Coach G-Force and I hardly reacted.)

Vs. Kweebecs

Easy: just set them on fire and use axes. They are made of wood, they hate axes, and some wield spears, which have a weapon triangle disadvantage with axes. (Just kidding with the last part. Hopefully they don't have axereavers.)

Because Kweebecs sunbathe to feed themselves, attacking them at night is best. Alternatively, we can shroud their villages in darkness with either blocks or magic.

Just in case Kweebecs drink water with an equivalent of plant roots, we should also cut off their water supplies. Fire magic might evaporate water, similar to Primal Groudon's Desolate Land Ability.

One drawback of setting Kweebec villages ablaze is us also having to move around the fire. Fireproof armor and fire resistance potions are the obvious answers, but water magic can also come in handy if our way is blocked and we have no fireproofing.

I will also be ready in case there are fireproof Kweebecs.

If ice magic is effective against plants and Kweebecs like how the Ice type beats the Grass type in Pokémon, this is the safer option for us because cold weather is not very dangerous outside of a snowstorm. We can do our first attack simply by casting a blizzard on the entire village, then when much of the Kweebec army is frozen or dead, we can rush in with our usual fighting styles with spear, bow, and wand/axe in each of our pairs of hands.

After a blizzard, all we have to deal with are ice blocks and fallen snow, which are much safer to navigate than fire and don't need protective gear. Sure, we may slip, but so will the enemy, so I'll take the lead as I'm graceful and precise on my feet. If ice blocks get annoying, we can simply melt them with fire or shatter them with physical attacks or pickaxes.

Don't judge me (just kidding) when I kill Kweebecs in an evil playthrough.
I'm a cold-blooded killer.
Screenshot from the Hytale announcement trailer

Vs. Ferans

These are just wild guesses because there's not much information about Ferans compared to the Trork, Outlander, and Kweebec.

Ferans appear to be based on the fennec fox because of their ears (similar to the Pokémon Fennekin) and the fact they both live in deserts.
I was gonna wild guess that ice magic would hurt Ferans a lot, but according to National Geographic, fennec foxes' thick fur protects them during cold nights, so maybe ice magic effectiveness would be slightly better than normal damage (like 1.1x?).

Ferans live in hide tents and bone cabins, which, to me, are weaksauce building materials. Though they are fire-resistant, I think hides can be easily broken with swords or shears while bones can be shattered with bludgeons or pickaxes.

Ferans are associated with the wind element because of their freedom bracers, so maybe their shamans primarily cast wind magic.
Wind is weak to earth and electricity according to TV Tropes. Earth can raise a rock wall to block wind, but I don't understand how electricity beats wind because air does not conduct electricity.
This can be dangerous as, according to TV Tropes again, wind magic can cast tornadoes and grant flight or high speed. Considering that zone 2 is a desert, wind magic can even stir up a sandstorm and deal constant damage to us unless we wear eye safety gear.
BoltOLightnin can neutralize or block the wind with his own magic, while I can overpower the wind with my sheer speed (though I may still be slowed).
YoSquid would be hurt the most because his arrows would probably fly very inaccurately as the Ferans shift the wind's direction, and YoSquid is kinda slow.

Though not confirmed, I will brace myself in case Ferans can use dark magic because of their bone staves.

PART 3: Types of Territory | Hytale Gang Wars

DISCLAIMER: This series is speculative and based on pre-release information, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This is not to be taken seriously; this is just for fun.

Heyo, I'm back with part 3 of this massive 6-part series of Hytale gang wars.

You know what's funny about GTA San Andreas gang wars? Most territories have the same number of enemies with the same arsenal of weapons regardless of size or strategic importance. A residential neighborhood in Idlewood is defended by as many Ballas armed with AK-47s as a well-developed part of Verona Beach.

I'm not gonna enumerate the many reasons this doesn't make sense from a realistic point of view other than overkill defenses in small territories and weak defenses in big or important ones. But if Hypixel Studios wants to be funny and do this for a few factions that aren't important to the story, I'm fine. Bring on the memes.

Anyway, the same faction can have multiple different-sized camps, as shown in various Trork media.

One of the first Trork screenshots shown by Hytale in "Get to know Hytale's NPCs".
This looks like a medium-sized village to me.

In the "Trork Awakened By Rain" clip, a Trork is shown going into a tent-like structure with a campfire. Although there's a wall in the background, I still think this is a small territory because it's not as large or complex as the other Trork camps.

Scaraks also have various territory types as shown:

Concept art from Hytale

I want to take territories a step further by talking about specialized types of territory for certain tasks, allowing the player to take advantage of a friendly faction's hospitality or take away an enemy faction's ability to fight a certain way.

Note that some factions may not have all of the following territory types, particularly Scaraks and Varyn's faction.
Scaraks have worker units and don't use weapons besides their own body parts, so I think a factory is unlikely.
Varyn would have no use for business or festivals because he can just steal stuff and his minions have practically infinite morale because they have no emotions and care only about killing, not their own safety. I imagine his territories would mostly be open fields and places associated with dark magic.

Generic Territory

This is a simple territory that varies in size and strength. Medium to large territories may have basic survival facilities and items, including houses, walls, weapons, and farms (except for factions like Kweebecs, which don't eat like animals), while small territories may only contain a campfire and maybe a tiny house. Think of a Minecraft village with no libraries, blacksmiths, or similar specialized buildings.

They usually won't have anything special similar to the territories below and are mostly used by the faction for resting, eating, and general village life.

Taking this type of territory doesn't yield anything special besides reducing faction morale and allowing the player to use the taken territory as a base.

(By the way, decreasing morale should reduce stats slightly and weaken faction AI, such as making members run away more often or use more predictable attacks.)

Medical Facility

This is the first thing I thought of when thinking about territory types since I was thinking about Pokémon Centers. Besides, Outlanders have priests, and I think Kweebecs also get along with each other fine considering how they learn about their own history from Treesingers. They're not like generic villains who don't care about losing henchmen while doing their evil plans.

Because Hytale is a fantasy game, I think medical facilities will usually come in the form of shrines where factions worship Gaia. Healing magic is often associated with holiness or light in RPGs, similar to how Jesus healed a lot of people in the Gospel.

I'm not quite sure what a medical facility would look like in a non-religious faction, though. Maybe they would look like the hospital wing in Hogwarts, the magical school in the Harry Potter series? (Ghean agreed with this.)

Anyway, obviously, players can use this territory to heal themselves or their friends. It would also be interesting if this territory sells items that grant helpful buffs to the user or target.

Raiding a medical facility would not only allow the player to steal medical supplies, but I'd imagine it to temporarily suppress the faction's ability to buff itself or remove debuffs. There are a lot of ways to do this: the faction could have their healing spells weakened or disabled, or debuffs like reduced stats and poison take longer to cure.
I even thought of reducing the defensive stats of all faction members.

Notes from Ghean: "[Kweebecs'] med bays would probs be beds of branches and leaves so they can rest...[and the facility would be] filled with medicine from local ingredients that are effective for their kind," she said.
So I guess Kweebecs would specialize in herbal medicine. I remember Shadrok asking about others' ideas about Kweebecs based on other plants, so these Kweebec variants would work as medics too.
Alternatively, if Kweebecs don't benefit from medicines that benefit humans, could fertilizer be used to heal Kweebecs? lololol good luck taking the smell

Business Center

Like a giant market, this is where faction members trade goods with each other and other sentient species.

I imagine that business centers will mainly offer food, seeds, and building materials, plus certain items that the faction specializes in.

I'm not sure if these factions will have business centers, but I imagine Trorks to sell a lot of meat and weapons, while Outlanders would sell animal hides, camping tools, and dark magic-related objects.

Raiding a business center would give different items depending on what the faction sells. This can be done stealthily similar to GTA San Andreas's burglary missions, or by taking it over completely, temporarily reducing the quality of equipment used by faction members (though not affecting the quality of loot they drop).

Festival Center

We don't know for sure yet if factions celebrate festivals besides real-life holidays like Valentine's Day or Christmas (in official Tweets, but I'm not sure about actual gameplay), but I like to imagine factions having fun every once in a while, like when Trorks slay a lot of animals to host a meat-eating festival. Besides, Hypixel Studios staff like having fun; Simon's building a home gaming room, and many staff like traveling the world.

For friendly factions, the player can help organize and participate in festivals to improve their friendship with the faction...and maybe take some selfies and memes. This may also temporarily raise their stats.

Raiding a festival center would greatly decrease faction morale, more so than a generic territory. This may vary, however, depending on how much the faction likes festivals.

However, this can greatly increase hate when targeting a fun-loving faction.

Legacy Gaming (formerly The Game Gurus) has some amazing ideas for holidays in Hytale.

Military Base

This is a combat-focused territory where faction members are trained and combat equipment are stored.

Naturally, it is heavily guarded with sturdy and strategic defensive structures, as well as numerous and frequent patrols (except for factions that don't take defense seriously).

Military bases spawned near other territories may not have training facilities, instead being focused on defending those territories.

This is a valuable territory when it belongs to a friendly faction as it will usually contain well-equipped units, maybe with better AI than other faction members.

Besides making combat easier in general, running to a military base while under attack might divert enemy attention away from the player and towards the faction members while the faction members deal continuous damage to the enemy.

Raiding this territory may yield unique equipment, lore books similar to Skyrim, and tactics books telling the player how a faction fights. It may also temporarily lower faction members' damage, attack speed, and movement speed.

Books may be written in faction-native languages that the player can't understand, which can form the basis for a quest to learn about these languages. (Or maybe just raid more territories? lololol)

Factory with Warehouse

This is where the faction produces and stores its items--pretty straightforward. However, I imagine it to be defended roughly the same as a military base since they might be storing valuables here.

Raiding this territory obviously yields a lot of items, but I imagine the most unique loot here would be crafting recipes for unique items--this fits the factory theme.

Accessing this territory may require a lot more friendship than a military base, but it can yield the same rewards as raiding. Perhaps the faction members can even teach the player new crafting recipes through word of mouth.

Libraries can function as similar territories to a factory/warehouse except they contain more books and spellcasters. Friendly faction members who work as librarians or writers may be willing to share faction lore with the player. Magic items such as wands and enchanted physical weapons may be crafted and their recipes may be available here.

Dark Shrine

This territory is specific to factions that use dark magic, such as the Outlanders. It is defended similar to a military base, except stronger and with more mages than physical attackers.

Because of the heavy concentration of dark energies in this territory, dark magic is more effective in this territory--it deals more damage and inflicts worse debuffs, for example. If Hypixel Studios is crazy, dark shrines may even lower the damage dealt by light magic.

In addition to faction members, it may also contain monsters, which may or may not be Varyn's minions.

Stealth is difficult in this territory because mages can magically detect players such as with the arcane eye spell, which is basically an invisible floating security camera.

Raiding this territory has the same rewards and inflicts the same debuffs as raiding a military base, along with dark magic-related items and equipment.

Dark shrines may be a frequent point of interest in evil playthroughs as they may allow the player to learn and improve their skill in dark magic and commune with the forces of darkness.
Alternatively, in good playthroughs, the player may initially befriend evil factions to gain valuable information about dark forces that can't be obtained through interrogation or conquest, then destroy those factions.

Main Base

Finally, the place where the faction does the vast majority of its activities. This combines most (if not all) of the features from the previous territories.

The main base is often large with sturdy and elaborate structures, especially at the "capital building", the equivalent of a king's or queen's castle. It has incredibly strong defenses and frequent patrols all throughout, especially inside and near the "capital building" (though not to the point where it's impossible to sneak around unless influenced by the player).
(Note that "building" can be replaced with "chamber" for subterranean factions, and similar words depending on where the faction lives.)

A main base may even contain a faction boss, though not all main bases may have bosses. Defeating this boss may be required to completely take over the territory.

If there is no boss, the conditions for victory may be different from simply killing everything. They could be stealing a valuable artifact, destroying or seizing an important structure, surviving for a REALLY long time, or rescuing a prisoner...then escorting that prisoner through huge numbers of powerful ambush troops.

Stealing and seizing missions allow Hypixel Studios to design ways to make these goals challenging, not just by putting enemies all over the place. It can be as simple as putting puzzles, death traps, parkour courses, or a combination of them in one nerve-wracking course.

Destroying a base can eventually lead to an "escape" objective similar to "End of the Line" or several chapters in Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest. This can be followed by an epic collapsing or exploding animation when the escape is successful. (I bet this would REALLY push Hytale's block tech to the extreme. Imagine if all blocks have realistic physics.)

The explosion scene in "End of the Line".
Footage from GTA Series Videos

I bet escort missions will annoy players, especially when escorting an NPC that is either weak, has Stormtrooper aim, or is unable to fight. The player would have to constantly switch between defending themselves and defending the NPC, especially if the NPC doesn't know how to run away or attacks too aggressively.

After all, in Genshin Impact versions 1.3 and 1.4, players RAGED at Spiral Abyss floor 11-2 where they defended a structure against hordes of faraway ranged attackers.

A simple way to defend an escortee is to surround it with tanky friendlies or durable blocks. Ranged attacks ensure that enemies are taken down before they get too close to the escortee. (It would be nice to be Ningguang right now... Her Jade Screen blocks projectiles and she can attack from a distance.)

I talked quite a lot about main enemy bases, so how about friendly ones?

Maybe main bases can deny entry to the player until they have reached a very high friendship level, especially if the faction is highly protective of a secret found in the base.

Or, if the base is accessible at a low friendship level, maybe it would be the source of a LOT of faction quests. This is also a good substitute for player-made bases (though I encourage Hytale players to build their own bases).

(If Hytale has a fast travel mechanic, I bet players would often fast-travel here.)

My Blog Updates

Sorry for not posting this at 12:01 AM GMT+8 like I usually do. My younger brother is busy with a lot of school work this December and I attended a Bible study and worship service.

I read Hytale's 4 latest blog posts, by the way. I've already drafted a 5000-word-long post, but I still have a lot of cleanup to do and I need time to review others' analysis videos. I can't promise an exact release date for that but I hope to get it out before Christmas.

By the way, shoutouts to Shadrok, TheLividLion, The Game Gurus, Hytale News, and Kweebec Corner for their theories and analyses. They've got better Wisdom (Perception) than me lololol
Edit, December 25, 2019: I admit, it's a bit too late now to post that analysis since many other analyses have been done and it's a pain in my butt to do quality control when I have so many other things to do for myself and my family.