Limyaael

That's not why they're bad. They're bad because they are notorius for being risk averse and uninventive. EA are especially infamous for making bland and terrible games.

Yes, it still does. The lack of air resistance only means that one doesn't need constant thrust for a constant velocity. If a car could operate in space, you would only need to accelerate to the speed you want and then take your foot off the accelerator completely. 
One way to think about mass is that it's a resistance to acceleration. So if you have a craft with massive thrusters at the back but the mass is evenly distributed, it will be difficult to turn, and presuming DU will have more realistic physics rather than dogfighting-in-space ala Star Wars, it will be more difficult to decelerate.
 
In comparison, a ship with most of its weight near the back with the thrusters will find it much easier to turn. Deceleration with realistic physics will still be difficult without just placing large thrusters on the front too, though. I think the ideal design will probably be (for a smallish, Millennium Falcon-size ship rather than the Enterprise or Macross) three or so engines at the back, one at the front, and the small mini-thrusters for steering on the four sides.

This is a "General Knowledge" thread to help provide newcomers with a list of hot topics, answers, FAQs, videos, and other miscellaneous information that pertains to Dual Universe. This thread will not contain everything about DU, but merely help to point you in the right direction. I have done my best over the years to keep this thread up to date for newcomers, so if there is something you think is missing and should be added, just private message me with the information and sourcing.
 
You are also encouraged to join the Official Community Discord for Dual Universe if you have questions, or just want to be involved in the community. 
 
PSA: Use the SEARCH FUNCTION in the forums before making a thread if you are new. Chances are, it has already been discussed and beaten to death.  
 
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-> Release Roadmap & Alpha Announcement <-
 
Official Links:
 
• FAQ from the Main Website
 
• Trello Community Suggestions
 
• DU Gamepedia (wiki)
 
• Developer Blog
 
• Kickstarter Page
 
• Youtube Page
 
          • DU Community Discord
                • Official Discord FAQ (Forum Link)
 
          • Soundcloud/Soundtracks
 
          • DU Reddit
 
 
Forum Links:
 
• "Ask Us Anything" Thread by NQ-Nyzaltar
 
• Forum Rules thread by NQ-Nyzaltar
 
• Pre-Alpha FAQ and Rules by NQ-Nyzaltar
 
• DU DevDiary Video Guide by Shockeray
 
 
Other (Non-Official) Media:
 
• Dual Universe Explorers (Podcast)
 
• Ark Central (Community News)
 
• Dual Insider (Community News)
 
• Dual Universe Sleepers (Fansite/Blog)
 
• Outpost Zebra (Blog)
 
• Community Org/Player Map (Community Tool)
 
 
Common Topics: (NOTE: All information below is subject to change at any time. Official responses from the developers, and sources, have been linked to each subject.)
 
• Price Model will be Pay To Play
 
 
 
• "Virtual Simulator" for builders to build in peace
 
 
• "The Economy"
 
 
• "Scripting" Dual Universe will utilize LUA Scripting and Distributed Processing Units  
 
• "FTL Travel" answered by NQ-Nyzaltar in the Ask Us Anything thread
 
  • "Unigine 2" Dual Universe will be running off of the Unigine 2 Game Engine
 
 
• "Single Shard Server" In Dual Universe, all players will be playing in the same server
• (Video) Server Technology review by JC Baillie
 
 
• "Active Lock On Targeting" In Dual Universe, combat will not be twitched base
 
 
• "Character Progression" There will be no character levels in Dual Universe
 
 
• "Survival Gameplay" Currently NovaQuark are still considering adding survival elements
 
 
• "Territory Control" In Dual Universe, you will be able to own pieces of land
 
 
• "Rights And Duties Management System" Sophisticated system for managed roles in your organization
 
 
• "Stealth Technology" Stealth tech is currently being considered by NovaQuark
 

The Cinderfall Syndicate have plans to set up a city (Emberstone) basically as soon as possible. People have been throwing around the idea of Alioth being a recruiting planet for the newbies eventually. I imagine organisations will offer people free spaceships and such in exchange for membership.

"Scripts" are an inherent part of a construct. They don't reside on your PC. They execute on your PC.
 
They stay in game as long as your construct does.

Technically the universe will be infinite (at least in the final release). However, expansion will be difficult enough that practically it could be many years before one would find it difficult to cross the colonised part of the galaxy. It might take more than the first day for anyone to have engines to get to space and possibly as long as a month before any organisation can start building a Stargate to travel to the first new system.
 
NQ have expressed interest in adding ruins and other things to provide small bits of lore across the universe, but they want most content to be player created. Both NMS and DU might have procedurally generated empty planets, but unlike in NMS we can turn those planets into Coruscant-like megacities if we please.
 
  
I would personally say that if you're building some enormous ship you can't really afford to lose while it's being built, contract a mercenary company to protect your construction site.
 
But aside from that, it will be possible (eventually) to build protective bubbles like the arkship, but they won't be indestructible. I have a feeling that Alioth, for example, will eventually be turned into a mostly bubble-covered noob-zone full of advertising for organisations.
 
JC has mentioned that they want to include stealth but no details so far. I hope it'll work for even smaller ships, I want to be able to cloak myself while carrying cargo through dangerous places.

There is a really simple response to all of the people with brand new forum accounts who come into these payment model threads complaining and expecting NovaQuark to suddenly drop all of their business plans because they don't want to pay a subscription fee like the rest of us.
 
 

 
 
 
Nobody is forcing anyone to play Dual Universe. If you don't want to pay to play, then move along, because that is very clearly something that is not going to change for a very long time. 
 
The rest of us, however, will be enjoying the game. 

Considering the size of the Syndicate so far relative to every other organisation, and the fact that their largest competitor so far, BOO, are a purposeful group of pirates that want to establish their own lawless world, I will not be surprised if Emberstone becomes immediately established around the Arkship and after its initial construction mining and construction of the zone banned (via the RDMS). Establishing Alioth as a mostly peaceful recruiting planet shouldn't be especially difficult, but having NQ force the Arkship zones to be mine-free is overly restrictive. I say if people want to strip mine it into a canyon, let them do so.

Stealing plans from a base and then running off with them to transport it to your organisation that's at war with the first... sounds like the plot to a certain famous scifi movie.
 
Bluprints seem like they'll be tradeable, physical objects so I don't see why they shouldn't be objects you could steal.

You can't. Welcome to a sandbox game.

If you want to mine in the equivalent of Detroit at night and in space, you are out of luck.

If you want to mine in a region that your faction doesn't police, you are out of luck.

If you want to mine in a faction's main moon of exporting minerals and you are not a member of that faction, you ASKED for it, you are stealing from them and they should drop every rocket they can on your ship.

You and your friends should realise this is not Second Life in Space. You go for mining, better set up duties for each other

One guy runs the mining ship, four others are bodyguards on their ships. That's how it's done in sandbox games. Also, if you are not PvPers or, more likely, Second Life players, you may want to mine in asteroid rings in systems your faction polices frequently and they can guard you in a moment's notice if someojne goes to troll you.

You can't have a sandbox MMORPG and then ask for no interaction. 

If there are no griefers, then mercenaries paid to protect you have no jobs.

For the alpha, ships will respawn by the Arkship whether or not they are destroyed nearby or in space. JC's plans for the full release are that there will be "Resurrection Nodes" which you craft and place wherever you want. You can have multiple nodes, and you will respawn at the nearest one. But as he says it's the "vision" of the game, not the immediate plans.