Antioch

This is something that spontaneously came up in my head. Feel free to remind me if this topic has already been mentioned. Thanks.
 
Okay, so we all know that the building system in Dual Universe is going to be voxel-based. Now, building things in games such as, Space Engineers, Empyrion and Starmade is very easy with the Symmetry mode that works on X,Y and Z axis. But when it comes to Dual Universe, having voxel tools may allow players to build complex structures and more complicated ship designs. So what I'm suggesting is that we should be able to have a building mode that allows players to build things symmetrically. I'm sure there are quite a few problems that can come up, but I'll leave that up to you fellow members.

Okay I know this shouldn't be in the "idea box" but I just wanted to mention something that will answer a lot of questions about the game. I'm just saying this for those who don't know.
A Youtuber called GrayStillPlays interviewed JC Baillie the founder of NovaQuark and uploaded the video on Youtube about four days ago. It's about an hour long so please watch it if you have enough time.
 

 
Thanks.

what have you done people. why must we do this (click the vimeo button to go to the website if you want full screen)

- Space Olympics
- Space Unicorns(NPC) You can trade gold for rainbows that adds rainbow particle effects to your ship.
- Space Museum
- Space Night-club where players can have drinks and talk all day.
- Space dogs. You can tame an alien pet for your character.
- Space drugs. Because why not.

This is something that spontaneously came up in my head. Feel free to remind me if this topic has already been mentioned. Thanks.
 
Okay, so we all know that the building system in Dual Universe is going to be voxel-based. Now, building things in games such as, Space Engineers, Empyrion and Starmade is very easy with the Symmetry mode that works on X,Y and Z axis. But when it comes to Dual Universe, having voxel tools may allow players to build complex structures and more complicated ship designs. So what I'm suggesting is that we should be able to have a building mode that allows players to build things symmetrically. I'm sure there are quite a few problems that can come up, but I'll leave that up to you fellow members.

I say we just rename the game to COPS.

Hi there ,
DU sounds really interesting.
With it´s procedural Universe will there also be "unreal" planets like in No Man's Sky or Xenoblade Chronicles X?
 
(I know it's  kind of a silly question, but I really like exploring such unreal planets where you see for example forests with strange looking trees that glow at night an flying islands an so on)

While I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion, I mus respectfully disagree with yours.  Here's why:
 
This is an MMO game.  That means you want fleets of craft piloted by large numbers of players going at it mostly in space combat.  In order for there to be some semblance of strategy there needs to be complexity in how offensive and defensive systems work.  Otherwise the game will be populated with one ship design covered with huge shields and bristling with the heaviest weapons.  This is not conducive to long-term gameplay - the community will quickly tire of repetitive battles and people will simply stop engaging.
 
In fact this is why most sci-fi are set up with this sort of offensive/counteroffensive strategy.  Take a look at Fractured Space for example: there are 5 different classes of ship, each with a different strategy for winning and each having a distinct area of weakness that can be exploited by the opposing team.  And that game is entirely composed of space battles. 

Hahaha good point But I thought third-person would be available as well?

I don't know if this is already mentioned before but are voxel blocks going to be affected by gravity and have some kind of structual integrity like in Medieval Engineers? (Things like structures that can fall apart from gravity when it's not built properly) Here's a link:
And is that mechanism going to be applied in space also? So like if a ship collides with another, will there be blocks and bits of debris flying off?
 
So, are voxel blocks going to fall if placed in mid air on a planet? If a block isn't connected to a ship, is it going to be by itself or considered to be apart of the ship for instance, in Starmade you can build ships that have floating objects around it that aren't connected to the ship by any means but still counted as an entirety.
 
I'm really sorry if this is already mentioned. :/

This has indeed been brought up a while back:
 
https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/508-axes-of-symmetry/
 
Nyzaltar had this to say:
 

Interplanetary and interstellar ships require vast amounts of energy for propulsion.  There was a previous thread looking at nuclear power but antimatter is by far the most concentrated form of energy in the Universe.  A couple grams of the stuff will put the Space Shuttle in orbit, and several Kilograms can accelerate it to a significant percentage of the speed of light.
 
It would require a high level of technology to build a magnetic containment unit (or E/M bottle) using superconducters and to cryogenically cool the anti-hydrogen atoms to maintain a liquid state.  Also the unit would need to be extremely reliable since any power interruption would result in catastrophic failure of the unit.
 
The interesting thing is that you can create antimatter with a particle accelerator, but it's actually more efficient to collect it from the radiation belts surrounding planets.  A large electromagnetic trap could be set up in planetary orbit and used as a "gas station" to refuel starships in space.

On the realism front there really isn't any known method that will give us something like scifi shields, at least as far as acting like a barrier generated in empty space outside your vehicle (or whatever you're trying to protect).  There simply is no real-world process which will replicate the effects.  A magnetic field might offer some protection against particle radiation (potentially including particle beam weapons) but that's about it; they would be useless against projectile weapons and lasers.  It might interfere with missile guidance but then missiles will be designed with that in mind anyway and launch a dumb projectile from a greater distance or just follow the magnets.  But hey, DU has some weird space/time geometry compression going on, artificial gravity and FTL travel.
 
As far as the DU version is concerned I figure a shield's "hit points" could be explained as a charge in a capacitor bank.  The shield isn't on all the time, it flickers on only when it sees an incoming projectile, stays on long enough to block it and shuts off the rest of the time, waiting to intercept the next bullet.  This both explains why the shield demands more power when under fire and why it does not stop outgoing weapons.  The shield draws power faster than most power plants can supply it so if you hit it enough times in a row the capacitor gets depleted and the shield won't have enough energy available to stop the next shot.  Give it a chance to recharge and it's back to full strength.  This way the shield is really three different components: The power supply, the shield generator and the capacitor bank.  The type and placement of generator affects the shield geometry, how strong of an attack it can actually prevent, whether it is more efficient against strong or weak attacks and how much of your construct is actually protected.  The capacitor bank affects how many hit points that shield has.  The power plant determines how quickly the capacitor bank can be recharged.
 
The capacitors open up another element of design strategy in general since railguns, coilguns, pulse lasers and particle beams will also need capacitors to supply power.  You might have one big capacitor bank that can run everything, giving you more flexibility, but then firing your railguns eats your shield HP.  Alternately you might compartmentalize, giving dedicated weapon and shield banks so one won't interfere with the other.  Crafty designers might install a switch between the two banks so they are normally isolated but you can occasionally tap your shield reserves for several rapid shots or shut off weapons to extend your shield's HP.

We want this forum to be a place where everyone feels empowered to have an open and friendly discussion with us (the Novaquark team) as well as other community members.  To help make this possible we have created rules we feel will keep things positive and ensure that proper netiquette is observed.

By posting on this forum, either publicly or through private message or other means, you explicitly agree to follow the rules and guidelines posted here. If you do not agree with these rules – in whole or in any part – then do not post. All members will be treated as if they have read and understood these rules and guidelines.
 
(I) Be respectful and courteous.
The Dual Universe forums and community site are provided for Dual Universe players and those interested in discussing topics directly related to Dual Universe. We understand that community members may disagree with each other, and even with us, but we expect opinions to be expressed in a reasonable and polite manner.  It is important to maintain an atmosphere of civility and respect, so that all voices may be heard.
 
(II) Communicate constructively.
All communication, whether between players, moderators or Dual Universe staff, must be constructive. Posts without constructive commentary can distract from the topic at hand, reduce the visibility of valuable communication, and discourage others from participating in the conversation.
 
(III) Following actions are prohibited:
Posting off-topic replies or replies that are likely to drag the discussion off topic. Necroposting on old threads (unpinned threads in which the last reply is older than 2 months). Spamming on a specific topic. This includes creating multiple discussions on the same topic in the same or multiple forums. Cross-posting a specific reply. This is also a form of spamming. Posting an image without a meaningful text. A meme is not a response to a discussion. They are usually disruptive and can be easily misinterpreted. The same is true for animated GIFs. Calling out other players or community members by name to shame them for actions or opinions you may disagree with. Naming and shaming is not tolerated. Posting in any manner that disrupts an official thread. Official threads are topics created by the Novaquark team for the purpose of collecting feedback and opinions. Threatening legal action. Unfortunately, this kills all conversation immediately as we must refer all further discussion to our legal team. To preserve the conversation intact and unaltered these types of responses may be immediately archived. Trolling (provoking) people. Flaming (insulting, attacking) people. Picking fights isn’t a good way to make your point. It usually means you don’t have one and are just trying to cause trouble. Using profanity. Including creative spelling or character substitution to bypass word filters. Using the report system in an abusive manner. This is a form of harassment and a tremendous waste of time for both staff and moderators. Discussions and comments involving real life politics, ideology or religion. These can be incendiary topics and will usually lead to inappropriate behavior and uncomfortable situations. Publicly posting any private discussions, conversations, or other material between a user and a Novaquark employee (confidentiality policy). Refusal to follow the directions of Novaquark staff or representatives.
The use of an alternate account to circumvent a forum suspension is forbidden at all times. Additionally, the use of alternate account(s) to influence or misrepresent opinions is strictly prohibited. All forum accounts must adhere to the forum rules and Code of Conduct. Failure to comply can result in disciplinary actions against all associated accounts.
 
Violating these guidelines may trigger a warning, followed by either a temporary or permanent suspension of forum privileges depending on the severity and frequency of the violations.
 
(IV) The following actions may result in the immediate suspension of forum privileges:
There are some actions severe enough to result in immediate temporary or permanent suspension of posting privileges without prior notification. Serious or sustained offenses may result in suspension of not only the user's forum account but game account as well.
 
Threatening other members or Novaquark staff. No, “just joking’ is not a defense. We take this very seriously. Publicly revealing account or personal information of any person, community member or Novaquark staff. Posting harmful links pointing to viruses, malware, worms or trojans. Posting sexually explicit content. Including posting links to such content. Hate speech is not tolerated in any form. Attacking any ethnic group, religion, gender or sexual preference/identity. Promoting exploits, cheating programs, piracy or any sort of illegal activity. Attempt to impersonate Novaquark staff or another member of the community.  
Violations of these rules may result in further steps taken with outside authorities or agencies. This may include your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and local or national Law Enforcement agencies.
 
(V) Abide by moderators and Novaquark employee’s instructions.
 
If you disagree with a moderator or employee's actions, do not discuss or challenge the matter in forum posts. Send an e-mail to forum@novaquark.com, and be sure to include your forum handle (name displayed on the forum), but NOT your password, and clearly state your concerns.
 
IMPORTANT: Forum content is moderated at Novaquark's sole discretion, and content may be modified, removed, or otherwise restricted by Novaquark employees and/or moderators.
 
Best Regards,
The Novaquark Team.

If this gets implemented, the game is going to turn out more complex and would play a big role of the game's economy system.
It sounds awesome. I can't wait to see more ideas like this.

Shmeckles.

I think he is talking about snapping together smaller mesh elements into one larger functioning element.  So voxels wouldn't need to be involved.   I think this is a great idea.  It would allow for a bit more personalization from ship to ship, in terms of performance and appearance.  

From the info we have so far it looks like we'll have a set of skill trees that determine tech level and a set of basic pre determined elements to combine into ships and stations.
Maybe there will be ways to get higher tech elements of the same type through research? I remember someone saying something about levels of weapons in an interview but there isn't much to go on yet.
 
Personally I'm in favour of making the crafting system more sophisticated so that specialisations arise naturally among the player base instead of through arbitrary skill allocation. This strikes me as the sort of game where progression through player skill would be a better fit.
 
To that end I propose that the pre built functional elements be smaller components with set properties instead of full parts.
 
So for instance instead of just throwing on a single engine block that takes up a large amount of space you would build an engine out of smaller parts stuck together that function as an engine. 
 
To build a basic engine that works you'd only need a handful of parts. Say an ignition block, propulsion unit, stabilizer, vector cone and control unit.
But you could add more parts to increase it's performance in different ways, with the better ones made of rarer elements. Each component would add weight and energy/fuel requirements. Some might also need a certain amount of space around them to function correctly(eg heat sinks) or have interference with other more sensitive parts. After you'd built the guts of the engine you would then use standard voxel tools to give it a casing and incorporate it into the ship.
 
And this would be the case with every part that creates function. A cockpit would be a pilots seat(with control surface), computer, life support monitor, oxygen tank, heating element, hinged canopy etc. Extra parts could be holographic projector, rangefinder etc.

Some common parts would be found in multiple devices (like power cells) whereas others would be specialised to certain devices (matter transmitter coils). 
 
Each part would have multiple connection points so that they can be configured in various ways. The game would have a master list of devices and when the minimum number of parts are connected together via their ports for a particular device it would treat them as that thing when powered up. Or alternately you might include a way for the player to tell the computer which device they are building (perhaps by including a control chip in every device)
 
Technologies that the devs want to be harder to master (like FTL) could have a significantly larger number of more sensitive parts. And they could not include a standard template if they wanted to make it take real research.
 
The end result of this is that as well as ships and stations players could also become experts at creating ship parts and the complexity of the interactions would create genuine expertise in the player base. When your organisation's engineer tells you the reactor can't take it anymore it's because she designed it. When the ship takes damage, you would replace the destroyed components in a device to get it functioning again.
 
At launch the developers would have a no frills version of each device blueprinted up for each player to start off with so they don't have to become an expert just to begin building. The players who are interested in that side of things would experiment with all kinds of configurations. Later on people would buy device plans off the market if they want to build their own ship without starting from scratch.
 
You could create the coolest looking hyperdrive on the market. Or the cheapest. or the most powerful. And you could create your brand for advertising. 
 
The other benefit of this system is that you don't need weapon tiers or constant injections of tech from the devs. Make up a list of weapon and defence types that are interesting, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Break them into bits that make sense, with lower tech weapons like projectiles requiring less exotic materials for their components. Then let the players experiment with what you give them. 
 
I guarantee you a Blastcorp Annihilator Cannon is way cooler than a tech three plasma cannon. 
 
Just my thoughts.

​Cops has been disbanded. Sorry for wasting your time. This was a lone decision by Kiklix and does not reflect the other legate lady astrum nor the members.
 
 
​The following are the answers to why COPS has been disbanded.
 
Drama:  Certain populous organizations and their legate have been concocting rumors about COPS. Legates from other some what populous organizations have made assumptions about COPS and presented these as facts. In every case these people are wrong and only serve to create drama. There is no reason for all the hate I have received and COPS has received. I am done 'playing' with a community full of children.
 
​EDIT: Removed this section due to clarification by Novaquark.
​
​​I would like to thank everyone who made the decision to join cops. I am sorry it could not pan out. I wish you all well, I wish Novaquark the best.
 

 
 
 
COPS - Coalition Of Pirates & Smugglers.   The arkships landed. We woke anew, scared, unsure. Groups formed, factions aligned. Power corrupted. For all the efforts to save our species, the millennia we traveled, we reverted almost instantly back to that old human nature. Not even extinction could change our habits, our instinct.   We have all been there. Watching and witnessing the mega-corporations metastasize and feed off the livelihood of the less fortunate. Class warfare, poverty, slavery...being forced to work by some clown sitting at the top of his ivory tower barking commands. I’ve had enough of it, most likely so have you. It’s time to break from those chains and live a free life. It ain’t easy, ain’t too much glory, but it’s honest (for the most part) and fair.  We are a coalition, a collaboration,  a consortium, a conspiracy, a communion,  a clan, a crew, a club, a confederation, a confederacy collecting cohorts connected, conjoined, combining efforts to be a free people, free from tyranny, terror and totalitarianism.       WHAT IT'S LIKE:   Ever want to pilot the Millenium Falcon? Ever dream to have a crew who works together like Firefly? You want to be that solo guy who searches for bounties like Boba Fett and his Slave I?   This is how we dream to play and we intend to play this way. However Dual may require efforts from a  larger group. If this is true, we just want to have a system in place so that people can come together to fullfill their visions. We want solo play, but under the safety net of a larger organization.     WHAT WE ARE NOT:   ​We are NOT GRIFERS. COPS are pirates, smugglers, outcasts, ninjas, mercenaries in the ROLE play sense, NOT in the griefing sense.  
THE BREAKDOWN:   • Enrollment: Some will get invited, some will inquire. If you want to be part of a free alliance just ask.
• Primary language: English and gibberish.
• Timezone: Only mega corps keep up with time.
• Goal:  Solo or co-op gameplay within a larger group. We all like to do our own thing, but somtimes you need to be part of something larger or you will get left behind.  
COPS is an organization created and designed to bring together like minded people who prefer to play solo without constraints of typical guild requirements (be here on X day, at Y time to raid Z...ya its tiresome).  We realize people have limited time to play and that real life takes place first. That being said, Dual Universe looks like this might be a game where cooperation and collaberation are keys to success. If we find this to be true, there might be more expected collaborative gamplay required. We don’t want to force anything on anyone, but just ask people to step up if it is required to do so.  In the end it’s not about making a large guild rich, its about making sure your needs are met, our mutal needs are met. We endevor to create an enviroment where co-op game play is actually fun and rewarding.    
SO WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?   • Security: Safety in numbers.
• Community: A network of people to work together with if so desired.
• Freedom: Free to play your way but with the undertanding that freedom requires effort and work. There will be times we need to work together, its the only way to keep an alliance strong.
• A Trade network. Not sure how Dual is going to work with trade, but within a group there will be communication lines. We will be able to trade with each other and help keep our alliance strong.
• Veteran ship builders: We have members who have crafted some of the finest voxel ships to ever exist.  Our fleet will impress, this I can promise.
• Veteran home builders: We have members who have crafted some of the finest voxel sci-fi mega structures to exist. Our home world wont look like a cut rate hostel.
• PVP: Lets face it, even if you only care for PVE, PVP might and will happen at some point. If you intend to fly in a ship, once you are out of the ark safe zone, pvp will happen. We intend to create smart ship designs that will help to ensure pvp victories, but you will need to know how to fly it.
• PVE: We know some people have no interest in PVP. Hopefully we can get a civilization started with trade, harvesters, crafters etc. It’s good to have folks who specialize in these categories.
• Exploring: It’s at the heart of Dual Universe, of course we will explore!
• If i can be done in Dual, we intend on experiencing that content in one way or another.  
GOVERNMENT:   Don’t really intend on having some massive over inflated group of power hungry people running the show. I have no interest in that, however there does need to be a head or some form. Castles have kings, homes have breadwinners. Even a pack of wolves looks to their Alpha. I intend on holding the main key of power or have it distributed among a very close group of friends. Those who know me know I fight tooth and nail for the little guy, for honesty and integrity. I have no intent on telling you how to play or what to do...but internal conflicts will occur and those will need to be resolved. We want everyone to be happy and to play together...its the best recipe for success. 
   
If COPS sounds like a style of gamplay that you find appealing, speak to Kiklix or LadyAstrum.
 

Well the old seafaring pirates of old are long gone. We're not that kind of pirate, and that language is (thankfully) long gone. We're a less rum-strewn bunch. 
 
We're the future or present, as it were, freedom fighters.
 
See Harlock: Space Pirate for reference as to how we might be in-game.