Kurock

Dear Alpha Testers,
 
We are glad to announce a new Contest coming next week, starting Thursday, May 30th!
 
This time the theme will be about  “puzzle games”, made with Interactive Elements. LUA scripting will be authorized, but it won’t give an edge on the winner selection: the main criteria to win the Contest will be creativity, originality, and aesthetics. Full Contest Rules will be posted next week, just before the Test Session.
 
We can’t wait to see all the puzzles, contraptions and escape rooms you’ll design!
 
Also, we said last week there will be a time extension for the test session this week.
With the Contest coming, we thought it would be more relevant to do it next week, as this will give you more time for the Puzzle Game Contest! 
 
If you’re not familiar yet with Interactive Elements, here is the video presenting the main ones:
 
 

 
 
(Disclaimer: The video is a bit old so graphics are not representative of the current graphics in the game anymore, but the gameplay related to Interactive Elements presented in this video still globally applies in-game).
 
The Novaquark Team.
 

Disclaimer: All ideas are based on the publicly available info, not under NDA.

Hello, so one of my biggest concerns with the voxel building tools so far, is the lack of support for curved shapes. I really think it would be sad to see an amazing game like this, filled with only Minecraft Box spaceships. Because curved shapes are so impossible to make. So here are a few basic additions I think could really improve on the current voxel building system. I know, more advanced voxel editing are planned like being able to edit control points, and a Voxel Element Library for more complex shapes. But, there are other, more simple things I think that can be done to get curved shapes into the game sooner rather then later. So, the basic idea is to make curved voxel shapes easily available so players would be encouraged to build none box shaped ships and constructs. I did some artwork to help illustrate my ideas. Please feel free to discuss and give feedback on this thread in the comments. Ok, So lets dive right into it.
 
 
These pictures are examples of designs that can be made with these shapes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Starting Primitives
So, there are several shapes to begin with when using the voxel deploy tool. Here are some important primitives I suggest should be added as voxel brush shapes. Those shapes are Oblate Sphere, Prolate Sphere, Cone, Torus, Elbow Joint.

Why these shapes?
The reason I chose these shapes is because they are nearly impossible to make with with the current tools. An even with advanced editing options, they would still be difficult to get right. So it seems like a no-brainer to have these shapes as starting primitives for the voxel brush. It would make it much easier to start creating curved shaped constructs, and encourage more creative designs.
 
This picture is of the voxel shapes I think should be added to the voxel brush tool.

 
 
Voxel Shape Options
So the next thing is an a expansion on the voxel shapes, by adding parameters before/after the shapes is deployed. For example, having an option like size, and diameter of the TORUS shape before/after you deploy it, or option to set how extreme the elongation is on the SPHERE or CONE before/after you deploy it, and even maybe set the angle of the Elbow joint. So, the way I imagine it would work is, when you select a starting primitive shape, shortcuts like arrow keys, numbers keys are used to set the value of the shape options, then you can deploy it as normal. Also, having an option box that would stay on screen as long as you're using that shape could work too, so that you can continue to change options and deploy new shapes.

This pictures give an example of what changing the options would look like on each shape.
          
 
 
Bevel, Fillet, sharpen edge tool
So, we currently have a tool that allows builder to smooth edges, but to expand on that idea, I think we should also have the option to Bevel, Fillet, or sharpen edges as needs. The issue is that most times the smooth tool does not give the desired result, or maybe you only want to bevel an edge but not smooth it, or maybe you want some edges with a fillet and some edges sharpen. I imagine it working exactly like the current smooth edge tool, except you would be able to Bevel an edge, Fillet an edge, or Sharpen an edge.
 
 
This pictures below illustrates how the tool would effect the edge. This is the current smooth tool.
           
 
 
Additional Ideas
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Scale Axes
I think this is a simple, but vary important option that needs to be available. Basically we have the option to scale the size of voxel primitives, but we should also have the option to scale voxel primitives on a specific axis (X, Y, Z). This I think would definitely add greater control to create the desired shapes, as well as enhance the freedom of creativity.
 
Hollow Primitives
So, this thought came to me last minute, but I think its something that shouldn't be overlooked. The ability to start with hollow voxel primitives. Either a voxel brush option to deploy hollow voxels, or solid, and set the wall thickness, or have hollow voxel shapes as a standard starting shape to choose from. I know that there is an option to cut out voxels using primitives shapes, but the main issue is that cutting out voxels gives a very ugly looking result, most times the edges don't look right at all, or you need a hard edge but the cut out has a rounded edge with a messy texture. Also, hollow primitive shapes would improve the speed, and ease of use when building constructs. Especially when working with curved shapes. Trying to hollow out a curved shape would be a nightmare, so starting with a hollow shape would be great.
 
Voxel Elements
So my last suggestion is in regard to Voxel Elements. Novaquark mention in this DevBlog that will have a Library of detail, or complex voxel shapes that players could use in their constructs. They mentioned a spiral staircase as an example. Well, here are a few shapes that I think should be included in that database of Voxel Elements.

Pictures of suggested Voxel Elements to add to the Voxel Library.

 

I know that a voxel point cloud editing system is in development, list on trello Here. That will really open up lots of possibilities for builders. But, in addition to that, having a variety of voxel brush shapes to start with is still needed to give builders alternative options, because sometimes doing things one way just may not work out how you need it to, so having other ways to create shapes is a big help.
 
I think that covers the general ideas I had. My overall goal is to see more spaceships and constructs that aren't just limited to boxed shapes, and enable creative builders to really unleash their imagination. An I feel adding additional shapes to the Voxel Brush tool would be a good way to accomplish that goal. Please feel free to give feedback in the comments.

Thanks for reading, see you in the next thread.
 
 

Hi everyone,
 
As an exceptional case, we are replying this topic, even if it’s closed, to avoid any misunderstanding. As an exceptional case, as the involved user has explicitly asked for public explanation and the customer support agrees with it, we are in a situation where both parties agree to make it public, so it doesn't break the confidentiality policy. We also want to share this as an example that things don't happen for no reason (and in the case of an error, we are ready to fix it).
 
Just to put things in perspective:
- Emtec3PL account wasn't suspended regarding the game (the account has never lost his rights to play the game when the time will come).
- Emtec3PL account wasn't suspended on the forum and was still able to contact Community Managers in private.
- Emtec3PL account was suspended on Customer Support side.
 
The situation:
- Emtec3PL pledged 1 euro as a symbolic donation during Kickstarter campaign (in which case it was clear it was a donation, with no rewards attached to it).
- Emtec3PL pledged then an Iron Founder Pack after the Kickstarter campaign, which has been upgraded as a Silver Pack shortly after.
- As explained in the news on our website here the access time, depending on the founder level, was pretty clear and self explanatory: 
All Kickstarter Founder Backers get access at Alpha 1.  Post-Kickstarter Founder Backers get access at the earliest at Alpha 2. Emtec3PL becomes a Founder Backer after the Kickstarter campaign, first as an Iron Founder, than as a Silver Founder, so he's rightfully considered as a Post-Kickstarter Backer and will get access Alpha 2. Emtec3PL contested that fact and asked repeatedly to Customer Support for an access to Alpha 1. Novaquark Customer Support denied the request and explained why. The last answer from Emtec3PL to the Customer Support was the following:
 
Emtec3PL sent this reply because he will have access to Alpha 2 (as planned), and not immediately (as he wanted). Obviously there was no possible discussion anymore, and as part of the process for harassment prevention, the account has been suspended on the customer support side. If Emtec3PL is willing to come back to a more constructive discussion, the account can be unsuspended.
 
This example might be useful to put in light how we manage customer service here at Novaquark. Globally there are two schools of customer service:
 
The old school: "Customer is king."
This vision implies that no matter how the customer behaves, the customer service agent needs to endure and gives satisfaction to the customer. In our eyes, this way of doing things is relevant as long as customers and customer service agents behave with mutual respect.
 
However, with internet promoting anonymity and online interaction, a growing number of customers started to consider mutual respect as being optional and/or lost focus that the customer service agent at the other end of the line is a human being, not a machine, and he/she is there to help, not to endure someone else's anger or frustration. Having daily customers being rude or threatening can damage a team morale, especially when rudeness or threat is undeserved. 
 
Customer Support is not an outlet for customers to let their frustration run wild.
It's a place to answer customer questions and help them when they have a technical issue.
Some people would easily throw there: "Hey it's part of the job. If they can't handle it, they can find another job" or the famous “HTFU” (which is perfectly fine in a game where a part of the fun is to compete to see who is the toughest guy. It’s less fine when it applies to your real life where you can’t log out) Our answer to this is "No, it's not part of the job, unless it has been decided that way by the company. It's not up to the customer to decide this part." 
 
At Novaquark we value Customer satisfaction as much as Employee well-being. 
The reasons? We don't want the job of anyone becoming a chore because we aren’t interested in burnouts and high turnovers, and also because we are convinced that, having people less stressed and less harassed than the average in the industry will benefit indirectly to the Customers themselves. So we won't encourage negative behavior from some customers, quite the contrary, by applying consequences to this kind of behavior.
 
To put it simply, we are following the other school: 
"Customer is king... but even a king has its limits."
We will always do our best to satisfy a customer as long as:
- the request/demand is reasonable and motivated by common sense.
- the request/demand is made in a respectful manner.
 
Best Regards,
Nyzaltar.

I hope not. Kill boards advertise that the game is all about killing. If there are kill boards then there should also be "best build" boards, exploration boards, manufacturer boards, and mining boards.
 
DU is not EVE. It should being DUing it's own thing, not making an EVE 2.0.

Dear community,
 
We’re expanding! Novaquark opens a new studio in Montreal to accelerate the development of Dual Universe!
With the hiring of Stéphane D’Astous as General Manager and 50 positions open, if you think you have the skills required (and/or know people who have them), don't hesitate to apply to join the first true Metaverse!
 

 
You can find the complete news here.
You can find the job opportunities on this page of the official website.
 
Best Regards,
The Novaquark Team.
 

Dear DUdes and DUdettes,
 
Today, we have an announcement that should make our Alpha testers happy! Due to our internal development process and by popular demand, we decided to bring some modifications to our Alpha test schedule.
 
So, from now on, next Alpha tests will happen as follows: three times a month, a 96 hours test session will occur, spanning from Thursday, 14h00 UTC to Monday, 14h00 UTC.
 
That means there won't be any test session once a month. This way, it will be easier for us to better plan production. We'll continue to analyze your feedback and the data produced by your crazy adorable in-game behavior It will allow us to better refine things along the way on our road to Alpha 2.
 
Overall, we think it's an improvement: longer test sessions covering weekends every time. This should be more comfortable for many of you!
 
Our Server status page remains the best way to get informed on when tests happen. It's up to date for next month and still here for you to visit (if it's not a bookmark in your web browser already): https://www.dualthegame.com/en/server-status/
 
Cheers, 
The Novaquark Team

Since the beginning of the year, we have witnessed unhealthy behavior from several members in the Community.
As many are relatively new and some older members seem to lose focus of Novaquark's vision for Dual Universe, here is a strong reminder.
 
Dual Universe is a game where there will be wars, power struggles, conflicts, plots, spying, information warfare and betrayals. It's all fine... as long as it stays within the framework of the game.
 
We are aware that a fair amount of people have a hard time to differentiate in-game behavior and real life behavior. While someone can be infamous, merciless and twisted in-game, that doesn't give him/her the right to forget elementary good manners outside of the game. Following the concept "the end justifies the means" will never be a valid reason here.
 
Novaquark expects from each community member to:
1) respect the EULA and forum/Official Discord code of conduct
2) be respectful toward any other member or at least neutral toward the members you don't like outside of the game, whether they are newcomers or veterans.
(neutral means: no free provocation, no real life insults or real life threats, as already mentioned in forum and Discord chart)
3) avoid using any real-life conflict, unhealthy real-life behavior or drama (made on purpose or not) as part of the game (because it's not) as this can escalate in very toxic and unnecessary situations.
4) avoid using any underhanded real life "tricks" to gain an advantage in-game. This includes:
- real life threats or real life harassment with anonymous accounts outside of the game (on Discord or any other online means).
- doxxing, doxxing attempts, or any behavior like gathering real-life information that could lead to doxxing.
- leaking publicly private discussions about real-life topics (especially when showing only carefully selected pieces with the deliberate intention of biasing the facts) without the agreement of all people involved. This also includes Novaquark’s investigations that haven’t been publicly announced and about which you may have been informed through a private channel/room or a private discussion.
- making false accusations, creating NDA leaks or false NDA leaks to accuse someone else with the goal of making them punished or banned from the game.
 
As a company, we want to provide a fun and welcoming experience to our fans and can’t tolerate inappropriate real life behaviors that potentially ruin the gaming experience or worse, lead to real life consequences.
 
If the Novaquark staff gets enough evidence on any of those behaviors, the team may give any sanctions deemed appropriate without further notice.
If you see some community members having inappropriate behavior, please point them toward this forum thread.

Best Regards,
The Novaquark Team.

Like this: 
Ideally this would work like a pair of linked elevator elements. Stand near and press space to go up; press C to go down. Alternatively, it could be decorative, requiring a pair of elevators in addition. Maybe this would be Tier 1 and elevators Tier 2?

As usual every 3 months, I cleared the logs and updated the chronology. Tik-tok.
 
For reasons unknown, the website manager I use is devoiding my links of their identifiable apple-green color. So now I underline them, but previous links are as camouflaged amidst text as harfangs nested in snow.

'
The second piece of the series is up on Outpost Zebra. In this article, the Outpost Zebra staff take a closer look at the ever stable Empire. 
Kytheum was kind enough to share his thoughts about his organisation and answer some questions about the organisation's history and character. 
 
Be sure to read it over here . 
 
Cheers.
'

I hope not. Kill boards advertise that the game is all about killing. If there are kill boards then there should also be "best build" boards, exploration boards, manufacturer boards, and mining boards.
 
DU is not EVE. It should being DUing it's own thing, not making an EVE 2.0.

'In a series of short interviews, Outpost Zebra talks with the leaders of Dual Universe's most popular organisations. These ten-minute pieces discuss the past present and future various organisations with their respective leaders.
 
In the first of the articles, we talk with FleetAdmiralCoke of the Terran Union and his take on the organisation and Dual Universe.  
 
Feel free to take a look here: Terran Union Interview and leave a comment if you liked what you saw. 
 
 
 
Cheers, 
Oz Team.
'

Hello all, a new interview is up earlier than expected on Outpost Zebra! This time it is the friendly @Kurock having a nice chat with the leaders of The Federation Alpha: President Ginger and Prime Minister Chrissi. Have a read, and leave a comment if you feel so inclined!
 
Interview can be found here.

Now released:
 
Episode 2: The Artful Affirmative by Ben Fargo
 

(PDF, 1MB)

Tortuga & Tales from Tortuga
Tortuga City is a community city building project in the world of DUAL UNIVERSE. The city is a place for trade, manufacturing and shady business. You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum, villainy and dashing rogues. Separated from the shackles of organization affiliations and political agendas, the cyberpunk world of Tortuga with its skyscrapers and neon signs will be home to adventurers and agents, artists and militarists, traders and thiefs.
 
Tales from Tortuga is a series of fictionalized stories set in this world, created for the entertainment of the colonists of Alioth and abroad. Our adventure doesn't take place in the actual Tortuga of the game, it only takes inspirations from it. The stories you will read are not part of the official lore of DUAL UNIVERSE, it's a story within a story.
 
Tales from Tortuga will be released in episodes every two weeks on SpaceshipDrama.com and here in the forum. The episodes are written by different authors from the community and comprise of stand-alone stories that will tell a 12 issue long overarching plot. The cover art of the issues is also created by different artists.
 
You can get in contact with the writers and artists on the Tortuga City Discord.
 
- Already Released -
Episode 1: Do Not Go Gently by Kurock
 

(PDF, 1MB)
 
Episode 2: The Artful Affirmative by Ben Fargo
 

(PDF, 1MB)
 
Episode 3: The Hunter, And the Hunted by Cybrex
 

(PDF, 1MB)
 
- Coming on November 16th -
Episode 4: The Hunter, And the Hunted 2 by Cybrex
 
- Further planned issues -
Episode 5 by Einu Vei
Episode 6 by Einu Vei
Episode 7 by Ben Fargo
Episode 8 by Agilulf
Episode 9 by Lethys
Episode 10 by Kurock
Episode 11 by Empress
Episode 12 - The Finale
 
Series trailer as seen on Ark Central:
 
The Tales from Tortuga team hopes you all enjoy reading our stories!

The more the merrier I say. Come say hi on the Alioth Expo discord (https://discord.gg/agD4r5X)

The Free Racing Community is working with its small development-team on the fastes designs and technologies. We would be proud if we could have a place at the Expo for our Racers.

I hope not. Kill boards advertise that the game is all about killing. If there are kill boards then there should also be "best build" boards, exploration boards, manufacturer boards, and mining boards.
 
DU is not EVE. It should being DUing it's own thing, not making an EVE 2.0.

I hope not. Kill boards advertise that the game is all about killing. If there are kill boards then there should also be "best build" boards, exploration boards, manufacturer boards, and mining boards.
 
DU is not EVE. It should being DUing it's own thing, not making an EVE 2.0.

If this isn't in game already:
 
Small, compact bike seats that are placed in line with the cross section of a construct; a block that covers the form of a person seated as they would on a motorcycle. I wouldn't just add a cushion and call it a job well done, as then the players legs could potentially clip through any other parts.
 

The outline in red is what chunk the part encompasses
 
Mostly just for looks. But it could open up avenues to make lighter and more streamlined vehicles.
 
I see some potential form issues due to the shape of the legs. It may be hard to sculpt the form of the vehicle around it.

I love bikes,... that would definitely be something I would use.

Bastille
 
This short story (around 5000 words) is set on Earth before the technology required for the Arkships (and more) were entirely completed. This story does not include any DU organisations nor does it reference any arbitrarily named gaming organisations outside of DU.
 
Enjoy.
 
---------First paragraph snippet---------
I am a broken man. At least that is what the shrinks say. They say I’m too broken to continue in the Centauri Special Forces. But if one of the powerful nation states pays for your training, they own you. So that’s how I became stuck as a Tester, a guinea pig, for Centauri scientists. On the bright side, they gave me a place to stay, even if it is a single room apartment that you couldn’t swing a proverbial cat in. Centauri also provides a seemingly unlimited cereal molded into multicolored letters of the alphabet. Today, the cereal spells out “freedom” which quickly sinks away and then spells “dominated”. I stare at the word knowing if I blink it will instantly rearrange itself into the usual random jumble of letters. For taunting me, I teach it a lesson by biting into another mouthful. It might look colourful, but it tastes like week old sweaty socks.
-------------------------------------------------------
Novawrimo 2017 - Bastille by Kurock.pdf
Novawrimo2017 - Bastille by Kurock.docx

So many of you know that I wrote the Authorization system for the Dual Universe Community Discord Bot, which allows for you to link your forum account to Discord so that you can have access to the NDA channels in the DU Community Discord.
 
There are several hundred people using it at the moment, and although it's a bit of a process to use it, it seems to have gone over fairly well.
 
Here are some stats about the current linked backer accounts on Discord:
 

 
I was thinking about possibly exporting the account information in the bot database into another database, and creating a separate public Auth bot for discord that would allow for any discord to verify whether or not their members have NDA access.

This would let other groups have their own NDA channels, so they could discuss NDA topics in a safer way.


However, I'm aware that this would have privacy implications for people using the auth bot on the DU Community Discord.

So I am wondering, would anyone be opposed to me doing this, or would you guys rather me not do it and just let other discords figure out their own way of verifying people?

It's not going to hurt my feelings if you guys don't want me to create it, I just thought that perhaps it might be useful for the various communities out there.

The bot is ready for testing now, it is already running on several Discord servers, but could use additional testing:
 
Installation and usage instructions are available here: 
 
https://github.com/yamamushi/du-authbot/blob/master/README.md
 
 
 
 

Did some archiving, tidying up the place, snipping bits.
 
Also, media & info productions within Dual Universe are getting solid: Ark Central, GLSU, SpartanCast, Spaceship Drama...
 
Keep your eyes open as you sleep.