Kiklix

I imagine because we can script constructs that its possible to make ED 209 sized automated robots....that will be the kind of pet I keep around anyway. Although if would be fun/funny to have a little alien cat thing that follows you around on your ship. Or goes around and does its own thing.

I'd be cool with bounty hunter stuff. I will more likely go the pirate route myself or smuggler. I'll have to wait and see how the game is developed to see what direction feels the best to me.

When I make spaceships in other games I often make larger vessels that can cross the galaxy. This means work stations, quarters, mess hall/kitchens, lavatories (shower, toilet), ship systems, rec rooms, cargo hold, etc. I know there will be elements to help ships fly, land, etc but I wonder if will there be elements for "facilities"? I ask because although for me it is immersive, they offer nothing in game play outside of the immersion (well unless game play elements exist where our toons have to alleviate themselves occasionally). It makes sense that right now the core functions of the game should be focused vs fashion and flair so I would not expect this kind of stuff. Ultimately I am looking to make my constructs as immersive and realistic as I can.

Ahh...I can see where the mini game being attached to the actual game can be more immersive. Kinda like the holo game in the millenium falcon. This would help make the build feel more immersive and alive which I am all for. Speaking of...I need to go make a new post on one of the most immersive elements needed in any game.

I agree and understand the premise but I will say that I am currently making ships in another voxel game that completely outshine anything I have seen in space engineers (I also play Space Engineers), of course those ships cant fly but this is in part due to being able to manipulate the voxels. It does take longer to build, but the build (in looks) is more rewarding. I like things to be simple as well, but at the same time there is something to say about being able to refine ones skill and continue growth in a voxel build due to being able to manipulate the vertices (I know the corners are technically "voxels" but most think of a voxel as the cube, not the corners). In the other game I play this alone has kept some of us to continue building (admittedly not that many) with very little development seen over the past year. I am less concerned about players finding new ways to make shapes with voxels and more concerned about the large workstations this often requires that ugly up the environment.

I just watched an unreal 4 demo...man, I cant wait to see how novaquark uses that engine. Anyway. It will be very interesting to see large player constructs where it takes multiple people to fly it properly. I am curious if larger ships will be able to fly/warp faster/farther than small ships. I never much cared for the idea of small one man vessels being able to traverse entire galaxies. It would make sense to me that a larger ship could store more energy/fuel and equip larger more powerful engines. I am just thinking of reasons why people should want to be part of a large ship to help facilitate community and those builds. I will personally try for millenium falcon/serenity sized ships when I can (when I have materials to make them and knowledge of in game building is up to speed) but I would really like to try a ship that is about 50% smaller than the NX-01 from Enterprise.

No problem. Some things could be built while instanced which should not be a problem with a large community with various game play elements to have fun with. Building inside an instance is only detrimental when the only thing going on in the game is building. I think it would be hard to craft a large building into the terrain if building took place in instancing...so ya, tough call. One option would be to have build templates be invisible to anyone except the builder and when those copied voxels are placed outside of the "template zone" then they would be visible. This would not eliminate the workspace but it would reduce the amount of stuff seen in the world.

I have wished for a pvp game that did not have the enemy name plates up for a long time. It makes sense to see friendlies, esp if they are in your party, but it never made much sense to me to have enemy name plates up. I like to use terrain and cover in FPS but when your name sticks out, it kills that strategy. I would rather the default be off and the option to turn it on.

Angelsheart, if you have not already read the dev blogs, I highly recommend it. Lots of cool information there http://devblog.dualthegame.com/page/4/ This one specifically should shed some light on NovaQuarks direction with Dual Universe. http://devblog.dualthegame.com/2014/08/03/shape-the-universe-leave-your-mark/#more-290 I was discussing the ideas of voxel manipulation in dual with a friend the other day. Something we talked about that many people do not touch on is that games where you can manipulate voxels like landmark often need templates and a giant ugly immersion breaking workspace to make things. Games like minecraft you just need your UI to select the brick you want to use. One one hand I would like to see voxel manipulation in dual so we can make cool stuff like we can in LM. On the other hand I dont want to see it done like we do it in LM due to the workspace required which is not only ugly and immersion breaking, but also a drain on resources (data streaming). Not sure what the answer is, just bringing up points to consider.

I am actually looking forward to 1st person in this game. It will be nice to see builds in a 1st person viewpoint with a good field of view.

I am an avid fan of 3rd person games. In wow, I would easily zoom out 50 yards plus to see the entire playing field in pvp. That is a fundamental issue with 3rd and 1st person games in regards to pvp, you really cant have both and be fair to the 1st person player. If 3rd person camera zoom is limited to just a few feet behind the player it will close the 'fairness' gap, but if the third person player can zoom out far it gives them an unfair advantage. We also have to consider camera clipping. In first person mode, constructs can be built to scale of the characters. In 3rd person mode the issue is the camera will clip when you have low hanging ceilings. This is why other voxel games have you build their stuff with a minimum of 30 voxel tall ceilings. In a game like duel where physics and weight will affect your constructs, its easy to see how keeping a ship smaller and lighter can have benefits in some cases. Small ships will only be viable in 1st person as a gain 3rd person allows for camera issues . As much as I love third person, I can see the benefits of limiting the game to first person, at the very minimum when in combat. Maybe allow 3rd when the character is stationary and you want to see them, look around etc but in combat you should be forced into first. Even then this would give someone an unfair advantage in seeing a larger playing field. Its really hard to say at this point because none of us have seen how the game plays out.

I understand the lack of realism brought forth by the ability to know someones back story. My feeling is that in a sci fi game, the only way someone can know this information about you is to 'scan' them. Even then I suspend my disbelief just like I suspend my disbelief when I see someones name floating over their head.

I am not really opposed to either direction. In game currency or making money irl or both, but the upside to selling blueprints (or schematics or whatever they are ultimately called by NovaQuark) for real money is that NovaQuark makes money on the transaction. If blueprints are only sold in game on an auction house or at your own market stall in your city for in game currency, then NovaQuark makes no real money on the transaction. There needs to be a steady constant supply or stream of cashflow for NovaQuark. Of course I dont want to see the game become play to win but at the same time if someone makes a stellar design that works well in combat or its intended function, there is no reason they should not reap a very strong reward from it. If it feels too much pay to win, then others in the market should step up with their own designs that function well. We dont know how the game will be paid for right now. B2P, subscription (I personally hope for a subscription), cash shop or combo of all. My initial idea was intended to help with a cash stream for NovaQuark. If this game is as fun as it sounds, I would like to see them make the money to continue development on patches or expansion packs or whatever. I can seriously see this becoming a game that is played for easily 10 years.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, fans and devs alike. This will be an amazing year for all of us and an amazing year for Dual Universe!

I like mini games when they fit the lore of the universe and are 'part' of the universe. That being said, I can't imagine running out of 'normal' game stuff to do between harvesting (if we have to harvest materials), building/scripting/designing, fighting/pvp, running a guild or business or governing body. I personally don't think I will ever run out of work to do just in making spaceships/rovers/mech or even housing or get bored of it.

I had a friend in another voxel building game tell me about Dual Universe around July 2014. He quit the game we played a couple weeks later. He only mentioned that DU was a voxel building game with the ability to make vehicles roll, fly etc. That itself was enough to get me excited, but as time went on and I read/reread the Dev Blogs I got and get more and more excited. The ability to make our own world, structures, governments, spaceships itself seems very appealing although for myself I would be happy enough designing spaceships that not only look good, but function well. I dont just want a pretty ship, I want to design ships with purpose, utility...ships to be admired. I do not subscribe to the idea that a "good design" just means pretty...that is all to common with people. A good design is one where form follows function, but the form is aesthetically pleasing. I want to see if this is something I can accomplish. The game seems vast, deep, serious (this is something I really admire...a serious game, not goofy stuff). I know it will take time to get it all there and that the DU project will probably never be 'complete' but just being able to craft good looking ships that function well....man for me, that is what dreams are made of. I would like to see a player 'store' where we can make construct blueprints that can be sold for real money. It would help push people to make cool, functional stuff and it would help create some revenue for NovaQuark.

Welcome Sylverwulf!

As some of you know I am currently spending my time in other voxel games making spaceships. In one of the games (which is mostly 3rd person) you can customize your character with height, name, skin color, face (eyes, nose mouth etc) hair style just like many MMO's. However in the other game (mostly first person) where you can actually make constructs work there is no character customization outside of the color of the space suit you wear. My question is: Is there going to be reasonable character creation and customization for people who like to role play, or at the minimum like to play in a role play community as it greatly helps with immersion in game? Also, if this IS the case and we can make unique males, females of all colors etc will there also be a UI element (that does not really need to extend past the interface) that allows for us to give a back story on our characters, their alignment like Neutral good, neutral neutral, neutral evil, Chaotic good, etc? If there is not going to be a character 'stat sheet' (I am thinking like pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons), will DU allow for addons like world of warcraft? Thank you, Kiklix/Alien Paragon

I think its human nature to treat someone differently that you know (long time forum posters/testers) vs someone who you do not know (new players). That being said, I hope NQ does not do this. I play another voxel game that is seemingly dying. Some of the people who left did not like that the developers paid attention to certain long time players more than new people. The devs were always showcasing stuff from the older players which left the newer people feeling left out. Secondly, that game has a market model where players can make things in game and sell them. The players who were "advertised" by the devs more made more money vs the players who made equally as good if not better stuff. Simple advertising and it works. So for this reason I also think devs should not play favorites. If we come to know some of the designers/coders/artists in DU and we chat personally, that is ok. But when certain players get more promotion from the devs, this has a negative effect on many of the people who do not get the same kind of promotion. So imo its best to keep it neutral, balanced and fair.

I no longer play landmark, but they have a proximity based chat and frankly it's nothing more than a pain in the butt. If someone is working on something and you come over to see it and chat etc, you have to constantly follow them around. In that game, the builders can fly on their claims the visitors can not so have to constantly use a grappling hook to stick to the side of buildings etc. I am all for immersion. I still miss feeding pets and crafting and using ammunition in world of warcraft but actually using a proximity based chat in game is cumbersome and not very fun to use.

"- While there could be some hidden reasons, do you consider the fact to find blueprints by this manner ok? or do you find it a bit "too convenient" (lore-wise)?" Initially I felt it "too convenient" but we are talking about an alien civilization, 10,000 years past when the arkships left Earth. It would be hubristic for us to assume we can understand alien civilizations. Based on this, knowing that alien civilizations have tech far far beyond what we can ever imagine I don't see it as too convenient as its completely plausible. "- For the time being, items made in kyrium are meant to be indestructible. Is it fine from your point of view? or do you think this could be an issue?" Every game has to have some form of boundries and I assume Kyrium is a boundry (to keep players from griefing or whatever). I think it's sensible. In popular culture we often have materials that are indestructible or near indestructible, especially in comics. "We want to make rewards earned this way very special and unique (not something that you can mine or buy to a NPC). Do you have some other ideas on the subject?" I think rewards should be mixed. For more easily obtainable stuff I see no reason why we can't have an NPC, unless you intend for players to set up shops for bartering and trading, but even then an NPC might be nice for super common stuff. I guess it kinda depends on the reward. I think for the most part your way of offering rewards invites players to explore. So in this sense it almost seems paramount. I do think gathering or farming or harvesting or whatever should be a part of the process. Sometimes its nice to just go out and mindlessly farm, but not to the extent that it becomes a day job. I guess essentially common raw materials should be relatively easy to find, more rare materials a bit harder and schematics, etc should be obtained by the puzzles, maybe off rare creatures. Some of this is tough to say because we are not sure how much of the world is to be player created once in game, and how much you guys want to develop or continue developing. Some other games are going down the road of everything being automated from emergent AI to player made creations etc. I am not convinced that model will work. I think the key is balance, some emergent stuff, some developer stuff. As long as you guys can stay in control and steer the game in the proper direction based on your vision, I think its all good.

Welcome Lego! I feel the same way. Games right now seem to be in stagnant state. The great MMO's we have played all seem to be watered down in favor of micro transaction and cute pets vs fun game play or making a game for fun. I was playing a voxel building game in closed beta, but that company seems to have shifted focus for a while off that game onto another and its kinda dried up. Not really playing much of anything at the moment. I hope Dual fits that hole where I have a desire to play games. It appears to me that the people heading up Dual and working on it are passionate, intelligent and quite artistic. I have good feelings about this game.

I would like to suggest the name 'Transmuter' for the morpher. I like Kadpaq. I will say, although I voted for neither, I do like 'Nanoformer' quite a bit. Nanoformer and Nanopack Nanoformer and Kadpack Morpher and Kadpack Morpher and Nanopack Transmuter and Nanopack Transmuter and Kadpack Imo Nanoformer and Kadpack rolls off the tongue the best. The Nanoformer is descriptive of its function through 'former' as in forming, and Kadpack is descriptive of its function through 'pack' but does not get tongue tied like saying nanoformer and nanopack. I just like the word Transmuter because 'Transmute' is what the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets, G-Force) used to transform...as a kid (well and now) I just thought it was the coolest sounding word.

I can't wait to build a world or at least parts of a world that interest me. It would be nice to have a goal to drive towards in a game vs the current voxel game I play where all you can do is build. I want to see creations fly, roll, permanent homes, town halls, cities etc.

As some know, I play landmark but also recently purchased space engineers. Space engineers is pretty deep as far as ship design, but its also intimidating and difficult to acclimate to after using landmark tools. Specifically In landmark you place voxels by pointing your mouse, in space engineers you place voxels by moving the character into position. I find space engineers method harder to build with (I am sure if I spent more time with it, I would have less of an issue). Is this something DU has considered? How voxels are placed, by mouse pointer or first person cross hair.