fiddlybits

Those are two different skills. There are skills that increase container volume and then skills that reduce the mass of the contents. It doesn't give you more space just lets you lift more overall.

Bi-Weekly Update - February 1st, 2021
 
Two rescues were made over last two weeks of 2020, 82 for Beta 1 and 220 overall!
 
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HQ Work:
Further work has been completed on the HQ, most of it centered around the acquisition of two medium gates which has really allowed me to smoothen out the intricacies of sizing the building for the constructs it will be storing. Of course, this does limit the size of the medium constructs that we’ll be flying so this might necessitate an upgrade to a single large gate which while fiscally desirable, not only adjusts the sizing of the midsection of our HQ, but also the constructs as well. Here’s how those numbers turn out.
 
single large ----- 8x160x80
single medium - 8x120x80
double medium 8x120x160
 
Now, these gates are on their sides to maximize the height along the width of the gate, then doubled to provide the needed width.
 
This is just one example of why I’m a proponent of customizable height/length/width for some elements like gates, but that’s been discussed a few times to my knowledge and I don’t think any traction was gained on it. The static nature of elements is also why I advise people to think about the elements they want to build with as it will affect hulls, buildings, voxels, the amount of voxel material needed, etc.
 
As this will limit the constructs we’ll eventually fly, I’ve been considering a voxel-based door similar to ODY’s ‘doorzilla’ (you can view this in VR). While this allows a lot more customization, it requires two cores (front and back entrance) and is supplemented by the fact that gates are simply more expensive than a voxel-based door system. It’s something I’m going to ponder before purchasing the rear doors.
 
Last thing regarding the HQ, skylights! I’ve been watching Helios in Madis’ skies and will be positioning a multitude of openings in the roof and perhaps even down the walls to let in natural lighting while maintaining (or trying to) a cold and mechanical look. 100 large windows are all ready to be placed, with I believe another 300 in production. Let there be light!
 
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Organization Partnerships:
Since the previous update, Eyes & Ears has established two new partnerships:
 
The Adventurers Guild by @Sofetios will assist Eyes & Ears in work on Alioth. Anytime there is an abundance of work in that area, we’ll send requests their way. They’re geared towards new players and I thought it only well to give them and new players an additional point of connection through our networking.
 
Securion by @AstonAir will be helpful to the organization in a multitude of ways. They will be running security for Eyes & Ears, carrying weapons so we don’t have to, which is something I’m a stalwart fan of. In addition to security, we’re also being offered residence onboard their stations that will be in orbit above each planet. This will significantly accelerate our response times once we get official constructs as, despite my modest effort, work on our HQ as simple as it is has proven much slower than I anticipated.
 
Their generosity is also being extended through financial aid and repair services as a result of unprovoked PVP action against us. This has granted them a spot on our website’s “Sponsors” page and allows us to move into dangerous territory ever more confidently.
 
We will also be sharing intelligence between each other on potential hotspots throughout the universe as well as testing out a sort of insurance program. These last two bits are a little more on the scarce details side but it is something that should prove all the better as time goes on.
 
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Tidbits:
Have I heard bits and pieces of info from around DU or is something brewing in Eyes & Ears? I’ll post it here in my ‘Tidbits’ section. I hope readers find it a curious bit of information to wrap up these posts.
 
I’ve mentioned ‘official constructs’ several times over the course of this entire topic. By that I mean constructs specific and recognizable as belonging to Eyes & Ears. We will not be creating these internally but contracting them out to various ship designers in the form of a contest. I’m going over the specifications for each core size ship and have been adjusting things as DU unfolds. When will this contest happen you ask, we’ll find out as soon as I hear from NovaQuark.
 
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That's all for now, until next time, take care and fly safe everyone!
- DarkHorizon

It sounds like you might be using a DRM-free Core Blueprint to deploy. When I deploy a ship, DRM is on everything. I manually go to each programming board, control unit, and screen and right-click disable DRM on the element, not the construct. I then wait for a client, then tokenize and trade. The client can edit the boards/screens/chair as they see fit but still cannot copy voxels, AFAIK.

Last updated July 13th  2022


As reporting a bug usually is a process with no feedback and as picking talents usually means hoping they actually work, here is a public bug list. If you want anything added, please describe them clearly. No need to be salty towards me, I am just the salty guy who wants them fixed or at least known, too.
Do not spread exploits. There are plenty of exploits, I would love to make them all public for a level playing field, but it is against the TOS. So as I want to keep my list, please no exploit talk at all!
 
 
 
Talent related:
 
Crafting

-plenty of text is wrong, like exceptional parts manufacturer claiming to decrease crafting time for functional parts, it works however. 
-[tier] product refining description is for honeycomb, but works . 
 
Piloting
 
-increasing foil lift via piloting talents (not handling) do not change sustentation speed(with full talents your true sust speed is therefore 82% of what is displayed)
 
 
Gameplay related
 
Industry/crafting
 
 
-So many more unknown server errors leading to random machine stops, especially after maintenance
-HC nanocrafter inconsistencies, like galvanized black iron can not be nanocrafted
-t2+ Hovers and Boosters have the schematic price|craft duration|assembler need|materials needed of the of the one bigger version. In other words, while basic verts and hovers L cost as much as an M engine, t2+hovers and boosters L cost as much as an L engine of the same tier. Likely caused by the mixed naming conventions for all elements
 
Ships/piloting
 
-Diagonal (as seen from the front) elements add crosssection based on their max coordinates they cover. As in, the game checks the difference between their highest and lowest X value, highest and lowest Z value, multiplies them, and that is the cross section of the element. In simpler terms: If you place a wing diagonally, in order to get a little lift and a little stabilization, it has as much cross section as an upright, rectangular box that covers it. 
-Elements also have different cross section depending on where exactly they are, a horizontal Wing S does not add to cross section if placed on a z coordinate ending on .5   
-configuring pilot seat resets connections and autoconnects different parts. Sadly never my gyro. 
-When the default configuring has too many possible links, it states it skips autoconnection, but instead just connects as much as it can and then continues. I wish it actually did skip auto connect.
-Airbrakes produce a down (relative to craft) force when active. To repro, just glide down while holding brakes and pitch down about 45° (brakeland, while facing downwards).
-Cruise control can hold retro brake active at close to zero speed, compared to holding breakes manually (test by comparing normal brake holding, 6km over Alioth, vs cruise control set to zero). 
-Collisions with environment are checked client side, same for mass of construct, position etc.
-As long as you are above 3420meter (space engine can activate) and 6270 meters (space engine generally can be active at 100%) your space engines only generate as much power, as your atmo engines facing the same direction have max power. Cruise control does not have the issue. (numbers used for Alioth)
-G-values in build helper do not factor in docked constructs
-the build helper function that shows blind passengers can be bypassed
-Landing with a tilted core craft which has a docked construct often leads to fun explosions.
 
 
Trade/markets
 
-Notifications do not include size of item (can be found in the log though, press "O"). 
-"View market page" only works for items in the market container
 
Other UI

-Setting something as destination while in VR often gives wrong position once out of VR.
-opening a notification log with more than 10k entries freezes the game for seconds, it re-freezes every time a new notifaction pops up while notifications still open, until you finally manage to set it to "last 24h" or similar.
Update, notifications now get auto deleted regulary.
-Bookmarks, pffff. Somebody ping me if they properly work, I will stop checking.
-trying to put something into a full container displays message "not enough space in active container"
 
 
Other
 
-using a LUA parameter with a decimal comma instead of decimal point (damn Germans) will ignore the comma and the numbers behind it, run normal otherwise but the LUA parameter will not be displayed anymore to be edited, as the the whole export part is skipped, too. (LUA issue, not DU specific, DU should still throw an error). 
-canopy windshield triangle M and L have wrong mass and volume. 
-"brick product" is called "brick honeycomb"
-VR Stations, gunner or pilot seats, get stuck on "in use" and can not be used anymore. Ask a GM in the help channel or try this: place a fresh seat, enter it, alt+f4, log in again.
-Not being allowed to board a construct may keep you from coming close enough to rightclick-report it.
-Linked container fluctuates out of range if you have no talents (or in vr), even well within the 250 meters, if you are on the same construct as the container. Workaround: Have a dynamic core with a container to link to, at your base.
-Nanopack volume talent works in VR
-Some ships in the flight challenge have full buffs, not sure if intended.
-Elements deactivated for supposed clipping often re-"clip" after maintencance, or if a copy is made via blueprint.
 
 
Mining
 
-Multiple people mining the same spot causes errors
 
Technical issues
 
Account/Billing
 
-revoked keys and gametime run out show error 106 on log in
 
Performance
 
Game hugs all RAM sooner or later, client has to wait for server info to be allowed to show frames, aka, framerate stutters at idle GPU.
 
Settings

-Borderless can not be stretched to cover a full screen with game resolution set smaller than screen resolution. Workaround: Set screen to reolution you want to run DU at.

It would be nie to be able to sit on any surface by simply walking backwards and if the surface was at a certain height your character should just autosit onto the surface. So that player made voxel furnature has some kind of functionality added to it in the case of chairs or benches.
 
Or if that is not feasable it would be nice if hitting "C" would either allow you to use a sit like feature when aiming at a surface. Or that you could crouch or lay prone if you hit "C" twice as well and have player guns have better aim if they are ever added.
 
Or if those two options arent feasable then I think that there should be an element based square, rectangle, or possible other shaped elements which can allow a person to sit on whatever you want them to.
 
 

Space markets with public beacons could be a good way to bring in business. Even without the warp beacon, I would expect this to exist for higher grav planets like Alioth. Just do business for a slight markup in a nearby space market rather than dealing with agg or hauling to the planet.

when poor connection help you to learn the mysteries of the universe ?


 

I am not saying this is perfect or that you will be covered 100% but i will try to add value when you will Create A New Mission, especially Hauling Mission if things will happen and you will lose your cargo and mission lost. For the sake of the situation lets put some tiers in the talk. T1-T5 cargo will be issued to make it simple. I am not telling you exactly what to do i am telling you what i will do if/when i will want to move stuff. Feel free to add value to this thread when you want. Collateral is great but its only great when you know how to use it, otherwise you lose more than you gain.

Tier/Collateral info:

* Tier 1 items. Tier 1 items can be T1 Ore, Pure Ore or Basic Components, Basic Elements, Basic Elements, etc.
* Tier 2 items Tier 2 ore, elements, components, etc.
* Tier 3 ore, advanced stuff, etc.
* Tier 4 ore, gold, rare elements, components, etc.
* Tier 5 ore, exotic stuff, etc.

Here is the trick. Each tier has a different collateral value. Since Tier 1 items are overall present in game and not hard to get you will want to add some margin % value compared with market price if Cargo is lost. Always, always assume cargo will be lost especially Early Days when people will try to do scams more than ever. System is new. Some things might not work out. The more we learn, the faster we adapt.

For Tier 1 - Cargo Value - Market Price 100 mil i would add 10-25% value. So if Cargo is 100 mils, up to 130 mils would be good. If they lose the cargo, they will pay.
For tier 2 - Cargo Value Market Price 100 mils (check market). Do you sell T2 stuff that is hard to find? Hard to mine? Hard to craft ? Somewhere between 25-75% margin , your pick. No need to worry. They fail, they pay.
For Tier 3 - Cargo Value Market Price 100 mils. Still not that hard to find, Acanthite might be thou. Weapons and other rarities, should check market when you decide the collateral margin%.

Tier 4 - Tier 5 are on the same boat. Stuff is hard to find, hard to get, hard to mine, hard to craft and it will be easy to get it from you if somehow we will be able to see what is in inside the Cargo and margin is only 25% more.


So, lets assume we cant see the Cargo. There will be players out there that will Create Hauling missions with SHORT time and High Collateral dmg so you cant do it. They will create the mission and they will camp the planets and the pipes so they get the collateral from you.

Lets assume we can see the Cargo. You have 1000kl of Illmenite on Jago and you want it sent to Alioth. Illmenite Market price is 2000. there are 18.000 piece in market. Since we live in times where quanta is inflated and we already know that Always Assume Cargo Is Lost would you like to trade your 1000kl  illmenite for 2.000.000.000 b quanta to somebody? I know i wouldnt but you also dont want to do it. So setup a price between 2b value X somewhere between 2 and 5 and create the contract. "Would you like to move my 1000kl Illmenite with 6b collateral?" Yes or No. I hope the system it wont be that hard.


There will be people who will abuse and trick the system since the 1st hour so its smart not to put your best and most valuable/rare items on the Cargo especially with T4-T5 stuff since you never know if you will ever receive it

1: Never pay collateral quanta payment upfront via trade to anybody. Always do it via Missions Systems.
2: There are lots of players in game with alt accounts. They will try to win/trade/reward system to gain reputation as Honest Traders and scam you if your collateral %margin is not correct. It was done before and it will be done again. The scam is simple. You literally sell your cargo for the price you are asking in collateral :).
3: Check delivery time. If the Contracter wants to camp/kill your ship and get your Collateral and his cargo back, he will try to kill you. Always assume it will happen in pvp zone.
4: Dont accept friend requests from Contracters in game. They will try to track you down in space if you slowboat.
5: Always add value to Cargo, to time needed to scan it, mine it. Dont think that market reflects the true value of the cargo. Only you can do that.
6: Collateral values like x10 - x50 is nothing (but you will need to have it) since sometimes that mechanic wont trigger if you dont open the cargo.
7: Test the system before you hand out items to the new mission systems.

Always assume that the Cargo will be lost, check the Delivery time to see if you have time to do it right. Sometimes it will be wise to warp, sometimes not and if you are in pvp zone there will be some of us there waiting for you.

If you are into Hauling Stuff, Create and Org, find more players like you and do hard missions in group.

o7

Dear NQ, 
 
Please for the love Quanta, please increase the copy/paste size limits. 
 
It is the single most annoying aspect of build large ships. 
 
Love, 
Wadiss. xoxo

Do you have a hard time landing at a marketplace because people leave their crap laying everywhere?
Yes you do, I do, NQ Definitely does.
I present the solution : Parking Meters.

Parking Meters would be a window popup that lets you buy time in blocks of an hour max and after that your construct gets "towed" into impound space.
This window can appear say.. 10 -15 minutes after a person lands a ship on the market platform. When it appears, you pay for up to 1 hour. At the end of that hour a window appears again.
You should get a few minutes (5?) to acknowledge the window before it defaults you as in violation, and tows your construct.
This would let people who are around and active use this and if they fail to pay the meter cause they logged off or went away then their constructs are gone too within a reasonable timeframe.
 
Your saying ok Grev, what stops one person from docking multiple constructs and just using one alt to pay the meters?
Well thats easy.. You add a compound multiplier per construct per hour per org / person / etc... to ensure one person isn't paying this for multiple constructs indefinitely
 
This would be very easily implemented and force people off the platforms at the least if they want to display their "market carts", they can do this in the player markets that would spring up around the main hubs,
or the devs could add this parking meter to the whole hex... 
 

In way I feel, that this flawed "internal" thing actualy degraded CMs to "just  messangers". Like Naunet at fist attempted to be our real CM in way (with some success, because people welcomed this short-lived change very warmly), but looks like somewhere during Christmas/New Year she was whiped back into silence, as "normal" NQ communication goes for years now.
 
We have 5 CMs (or more?), but I have no slightest idea what they all doing (besided Pann, who likely workind with surviving half-dozen DU streamers or something).
 
Sure, they may be doing something super-cool in secret, but...

Better communication would go a long way here. Bugs happen and there could be many reasons that correcting the exploit is too time consuming or difficult. A big issue is that none of that is communicated to the player base. 
 
Bug post-mortems help improve user trust. A few questions:
 
How heavily was the issue exploited?
 
What was a general description of the cause and what tools are being put in place to reduce the chance it will happen again?
 
The rationale for 0.23 was that it would reduce mega factories and increase nanoformer market activity. At the time it was stated that no group in game would be able to afford all of the schematics (~150 billion quanta iirc). After the price reduction and this bug, are you worried that this is no longer true? Are you concerned that groups have reached the industry end game again?

https://www.twitch.tv/gottchar/clip/ColorfulHonestDinosaurPJSugar

Alright! The team has confirmed that they can reproduce this issue. It is indeed a bug and they are currently working to fix it.  Please stay tuned - a solution is on the horizon.

This is Wadiss' X-Class racer in development.  Gave me a ride on it the other day and it goes like a bat out of hell.
 
 
 
 

Remote markets would be good if you had an established customer base (friends, org, etc) or a form of advertising. Otherwise, nobody will know that your occupied hex has a market vs. other hexes in the area.

I'm not a fan of the towers, but antigrav technology is already in the game. Space  cores reorient the player, the maneuver tool can lift ships and leave them floating, there are specific antigrav components, and we have antigrav generators that allow you to move while antigrav is active. It's not beyond the technology available in game that static cores can float.

I there, i am actually working on a Dual universe LUA sandbox.  I dont think you will find something else like it.   But it i have to finish it.  Some importants features are still missing.
 
Its a work on progress but very functional actually.
 
You use any editor you want (i use notebad++) and you only have to press RUN to reload. And you will be able to export it to json also.
 
All elements are fully functional
 
Timers work
 
Fully functionnal databases wich can be administrated using a small internal SQL database (H2).
 
Work real time.
 
System.Output window with some debuging functions
 
Screens are fully compatible with svg. And the result is very close to  DU (still few glitchs ?)
 
You can fully setup internal databases (player/constructs) and customize your environment with a Preload file using LUA (easy to do, anyway there some samples).
 
It come with a bunch of tutorial scripts to learn some of the basic of dual universe (hello world, databanks, screens, emitters, buttons)
 
The mouse events are fully functionnal (You can click on the screen and get mouse positions)
 
Some majors functions are still missing (screen widgets and few elements), actually, the navigator return dummy values,  but its a work on progress. 
 
And...  most of all... It will be open source!
 
Have a nice day
 
 

LOCKDOWN UPATE:
 
After a week long LOCKDOWN sanctioned by the OPA at Talemai, things came to a head in a major way today.  Up to this point, all attacks were thwarted, and many haulers trying to smuggle ore in and out were disabled.  A battle of an estimated 30 ships engaged in space above the beautiful planet Talemai.  ATOM stood tall against overwhelming odds.  Damage and losses were taken on both sides, but rest assured propaganda from either side is surely to be broadcast all over the subspace transmissions in the days to come.  
 
This violent attack against Talemai and the OPA has left the planet in a state of uncertainty.  It also begs the questions how the other planets will respond as the increasing number of people who live in the Inner planets continue to steal ore that rightfully belongs to the OPA.  One can feel it in the the air...a storm is coming.  Already there are reports of scientists of both the Inner and the Outer planets sending deep space probes and getting info sent back that there is an untapped Asteroid belt out in deep space.  Presumably with rich ores that would benefit any planet or faction who is able to set up mining operations. One can only think that this was only the first of many power struggles to come throughout the solar system...
 
LOCKDOWN STATUS: ON HOLD

Bi-Weekly Update - January 15th, 2021
 
Three rescues were made over last two weeks of 2020, 80 for Beta 1 and 218 overall!
 
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HQ Work:
Raise the roof, or at least try to! It was a fairly quiet period since our last update, all work was spent on adding a roof so now we’re somewhat like a house and enclosed on all six sides. Some additional work will go into filling in the supports crisscrossing the roof and I’m thinking of some possible arch supports but that will likely take a good bit of voxel work. I’m also partial to the idea of natural lighting so I’ll be looking at placing some windows facing the sun, just need to figure out if I want that to be an extension from the roof, or somehow integrated more flatly into the roof.
 
I still think the place is big. I would likely try to see if I could hear myself echo, but I’m probably only thinking this because it’s still so empty. Once we get some constructs parked, it should appear more filled in. not necessarily ‘lively’, but purposeful. Four large cores, it’s just so much bigger than my single large core that I’m used to working with from back in alpha. And I thought that was spacious, it feels small in comparison. Small but deliberate. I think I’ll enjoy working on the planet outposts more than the current HQ.
 
I know, a roof, what joy is there in that, but that’s all there is for now. Not only was it slow for the org, but also myself. As an American, the changing (and ‘firey’ might I add) political landscape has stolen my attention from the game, Discord, and much of my online life in general. I’m still around popping up every now and again, but things have been pretty quiet as of late.
 
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I mentioned in the last update that there was work happening on the sidelines. Stuff has deepened on that front with stuff being discussed in more detail. Whether or not it’s being formalized and written down is yet to be seen as all agreements have been verbal with no signed documentation.
 
Stuff is happening and I should really get my butt in gear as it relates to other organizations and E&E, but for now, real life is the priority so I’ll let the opportunities find me for the time being.
 
That's all for now, until next time, take care and fly safe everyone!
- DarkHorizon

Markets by the Extraction Cartel has released a new update. New features include A visual display of the markets Detailed analysis by planet (market group) A small update to the refining tab to show both buy and sell orders of the pure   http://www.extractioncartel.com/   We are also working on an update that will aggregate player driven markets and provide an opportunity for groups to advertise the prices, market locations, and market details. Please contact extractioncartel@gmail.com to get your group / alliance added.  

It is inevitable for clean cut PvP focused groups to team up with economy focused groups. I could even see some people really good at playing markets and earning tons of money solo hiring a small merc group just to protect their PvP area assets. Successful long term pirates will either, mine all their own resources, or become privateers, paid to ignore a government groups stuff, and their affiliates, and pay bonus loot for targeting enemy groups. Just take what happens in other older games somewhat similar to DU and split the difference with RL history. The more free form our options the more like reality it will be. The more restricted by game rules the more like old boring arcade games it will be like. For example, since the safe zones are hard coded, interaction and tactics will be very arcade like.

There is not and you would be welcome fiddly, if you have discord contact me fink#1867. Otherwise my in game name is burble although I have not been able to play much the last few days
 

This ship building contest was hosted by YouTube creator Shams. It gave me some inspiration for some ship creations of my own!
 
 

Whether curated events are a waste depends on the game. There are some niche games that have GM interaction as a common element and it can be a lot of fun. Often it includes more roleplay elements like NPC interaction though. I agree that for puzzle type events procedural generation is more common and scales better. Hopefully they are building the tools through these initial events to make similar events more common. Especially in the current state of the game where injecting more content and excitement would be really beneficial.