NQ-Nyzaltar

Hi everyone. It will be a public section then. It will be deployed at the same time as the Alpha Team section. In the mean time, you can post in the dedicated threads in the General Discussion section. I will migrate the involved threads to the new section as soon as it will open Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi everyone, There will be several weapon categories. The exact number of categories remains a matter of discussion. This is a factor that could be influenced by the roadmap and when we reach each milestone. Some weapon categories can be part of the Kickstarter campaign. It is also planned to have ammunitions for weapons Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Well, it could possible to make a forum section for this We can do it as public (every visitor can see it), private (every registered user can see it) or it could be part of the upcoming Alpha Team section (only Alpha Team members can see it). Just let me know what you prefer. Edit: I saw already 2 topics in "General Discussion": https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/385-the-alioth-museum-of-art/ https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/386-comments-and-critiques-art/ To keep this topics in this section can be a double edged sword: - It can give more visibility to these topics. - It can also "drown" them under many new topics. Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

We don't agree with this analysis (cosmetic = gameplay) if the pieces of armor/outfit don't have any stat. But let's admit it's the case (that cosmetic is considered as gameplay). Allow me to rephrase this sensitive topic. The important idea behind it is: if there is a cash shop with cosmetic items, there will be no gameplay advantage against other players for those who would buy such items. Example: A shiny outfit won't protect you more than a regular outfit. It's not decided yet if there will be a Cash Shop in the monetization plan. But if there is one in the future, please do not make hasty judgement before having all the info (at least wait until the scheduled DevBlog post on this topic before making one). There is no info about the subscription price yet. With DevBlog post about monetization, we plan to give an explanation about what type of cost we will have to run the game (you'll see it will be slightly different from a classic MMO). In short, we plan to give some transparency on this topic. So please, wait until then to start a constructive discussion on the topic. P.S: making the Cash Shop free for the people paying a sub would defeat any purpose of the Cash Shop. - If by "people paying the sub" you mean anyone having a sub active, then every player in the game will have the cash shop free. - If by "people paying the sub" you mean anyone spending real money for a sub coupon or activate a sub, it will be a bit unfair for those who pay subs for several players compared to those who "just" pay their own sub + this would destroy the possibility to sell cosmetic items on the markets for in-game money (if the cash shop is entirely free/unlimited for some people, it will completely destroy the average value of the cosmetic items). However, it could be an idea to give one cosmetic item free each month for each sub payed (through coupon or directly) as a "thank you" for supporting the game. But that's just a possible idea for now. As said before, nothing about the cash shop possibility has been clearly defined yet (except the fact to avoid giving any gameplay advantage to those who buy items from it). Edit: By the way, thanks a lot for all your feedback on this delicate topic. We are taking into account each of your opinions! Best Regards, Nyzaltar

Hi everyone, A DevBlog about Monetization Models is in the pipeline (not the next one, but the one after). It will explain in details all the reasons why we chose the P2P model instead of the others (F2P and B2P) and they are many. Here's a quick explanation about how we are planning to monetize the game: We assume we will have two global types of players: 1) Those who have a lot of available time to play the game but not necessarily a lot of money to spend in games (example: students) 2) Those who haven't a lot of available time to play the game but have a bigger budget to spend in games (example: people already working and having a family) Let's say category 1 players like the game gather a lot of in-game money... but they have a problem: the cost of the monthly subscription. Let's say category 2 players like the game and pay the monthly subscription... but they have a problem: they haven't enough time to play to gather the amount of in-game money they need to enjoy their favorite activities. We will provide the opportunity to buy monthly subscription coupons for real money. These coupons could be sold on the markets in Dual Universe for in-game money. This could solve 3 problems with one feature: - Category 2 players will buy coupons and sell them to category 1 players: They will have very quickly all the in-game money they need for their activities. Their problem is solved. - Category 1 players will be able to stay in-game without paying their subscription. Their problem is solved. We can see that as a reward for contributing very actively to game economy. - On our side, we will have always as many subscriptions as the number of players, which should stabilize the ratio income/costs. It's just that some players will pay the subscription for others in a system where everybody wins something (time or money). This Monetization model is already used by several big MMOs: - EvE Online (PLEX system) - World of Warcraft (Time Tokens) - Wildstar (CREDD) In our opinion, this is a good evolution for the subscription model. Furthermore, while it can work for Theme Park MMOs, we think it works best with Sandbox MMOs. And so, it might be the most appropriate for Dual Universe. But we are very interested to know what you think of it! P.S: there might be a cash shop in the future. But if such a thing appears, it will only contain items with no impact on the gameplay (= cosmetic) Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi LordSilver and welcome on the Dual Universe official forum Indeed, you cannot find screenshots because there aren't any released yet (except a few screenshots from the forest biome, but that was essentially a test to check how far we could push the level of details two years ago). The Alpha phase isn't opened yet: it will happen after the Kickstarter campaign, which is scheduled in 2016. However, the first real screenshots should be released soon (probably a matter of weeks now ). For some in-game footage, however, you will have to wait a bit longuer. Best Regards Nyzaltar.

Hi Semigod, This is an interesting idea. I will see with the dev in charge of animations if it's feasible in our voxel world (like having "wall detection" to trigger the animation) and in the case it is, if he has room for it on the roadmap. Thanks for the idea! Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi everyone, This is definitely something we would like to put in place. However, in order to create event on a global scale, this will require specific Admin / GM tools. Meaning Development time (and not just a little). That might be a stretch goal for the Kickstarter and put on the roadmap after the official release (because the primary focus is to bring all basic mechanics to the players first before thinking about events). But indeed, this would considerably increase the immersion in the game Thanks for the suggestion! Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Unfortunately, I don't speak whale (ask Dory for that ). On a more serious note, you have also Endless Space and Endless Legends (2 strategy multiplayer games made by Amplitude Studios) where the community had a huge impact on the game design process. Clearly games using input from its testers aren't common (yet?), but some exist Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi BatGojko, and welcome ! Well, we haven't started the real communication plan yet (although we discuss openly with whoever wants to know more about our game on Facebook, Twitter and the Forum). The reason we haven't started to really communicate is quite simple: we haven't screenshots or video to show. So until we have a few of these things, we prefer to stay in "half stealth mode", to avoid being seen as a "vaporware" . But that should change in the coming months: we will have a few exciting things to share with the community very soon! If you have any questions, just let me know. Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi Semigod and welcome on our forum. You're the first... errr... divine being who landed here. We hope you will find what you seek! Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

The team hasn't made the final decision on this subject yet. But I will bring this topic to the Devs' attention Sidenote: if we succeed in avoiding to have activies usually boring and nearly automated in MMO (like mining, for example ) not boring in Dual Universe, this should naturally limit Multiboxing. Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi Obstinance and welcome on our forum! Don't worry, we also value greatly opinions from players new to the genre: To have fresh eyes on the topic give us some precious information. If what is explained seems to obscure to new comers, then we have to work more on it in order to make it easier to understand So yes, your opinion is very important too for the devs! To describe shortly the current gameplay: The first brick of a construct is represented by a Core Unit. The Core Unit, according to its type, defines the size of a Building Zone (what you call "the cage"), and is placed in its center. We have also a 3D holographic grid displayed around the Building Zone to make it easier for builders to see where are its limits, and how many voxels they are from the said limits. For technical reasons and many specific situations, we can't allow a Builder to extend a construct outside of its Building Zone. If the builder needs more space to create artistic protrusions, he must anticipate the size of the necessary Building Zone, protrusions included when deploying the Core Unit type. If the Builder has underestimated the size and is really advanced in the building process, there "might" be a way to work around in the future, by copy/pasting the main part of the construct to a bigger Building Zone, but I can confirm it yet, as the Select/Copy/Paste Tool is still under development, so it's hard to tell right now which will be its final specs. I hope this answers to your questions on the topic. If not, or if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi vracyon and welcome on our forum. However, could you write in english here as it would be the best way for everyone to understand you? --- Hola y bienvenidos vracyon en nuestro foro. Sin embargo , se puede escribir en Ingl?s aqu?, ya que ser?a la mejor manera de entender para todos ustedes? --- Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi Markus_Wolf and welcome on our forum! Well, we are not exactly aiming at the same gaming experience as Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen (which are mainly focused on Space Sim), but we hope you will find what you seek on Dual Universe! If you have any question, just let me know Best Regards Nyzaltar.

Hi Hylios, Yes, it's still a thing. But before starting these news, we will put in place a forum section dedicated to the Alpha Team. This will take place at the same time as we will release the new website. I can't give you a precise date yet, but you can expect in the coming months. Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi everyone, Keep in mind that, in the Alpha, there will be no combat. So don't expect to see "Armor" any time soon. The Alpha Team Space Suit will be something not heavy-looking, as it's designed for exploration and mobility. Speaking of which, the Concept Art for the Alpha Team Space Suit is nearing completion (can't wait to show it to the community!) Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

A small correction: The release of the first screenshots is planned for Q1 2016, if all goes well. Not the crowdfunding campaign, which is planned later this year. Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi everyone! Here are some information. We hope this give you a better idea about how we see the beginning of the in-game Economy Will there be only one currency in the game? Will players be able to create spaceship to explore space and other planets during Alpha? Some clarifications/confirmations to begin the discussion: - Yes, there will be only one currency in Dual Universe (basically, we agree with Astrophil post saying that emergent currencies might be quite a hassle to manage in practice, especially for players who are not interested in economy). - Yes, there will be space flight even in the Alpha, because this is something we need to test very thoroughly right from the beginning. Keep in mind Alpha phase purpose is to test extensively the first and most sensitive bricks of gameplay. If all goes well, you will have a complete solar system to test for the Alpha. However, it might be significantly slower to really be able to build a spaceship once the game reaches official release. We believe that it should be a real ?wow? moment, a crowning achievement, for a player to first take off a planet and finally see it fill the whole screen in all its majesty! At least for the early players who will join the game and cannot simply step in an already existing ship. Business Ventures - With a game like DU, whose scope is truly massive in its goal to create a living, breathing sandbox universe, the possibilities for all sorts of professions are near endless. What sort of ideas do you have? We probably haven't visualized all possibilities for professions in Dual Universe yet, as the gameplay will be emergent, as in any proper sandbox game. However, there are already some planned activities that can lead to professions: - Resource discovery (exploring planets and selling coordinates where materials are located) - Resource gathering (collecting raw materials) - Crafting (refining raw materials and making Gear, Elements or Element Parts) - Building (designing constructs, be it spaceships, cities, voxel sculptures or ornaments) - Industrial Production (producing specific constructs in large quantity) - Engineering (creating new LUA scripts for ships, drones, automatic defence, etc) - Logistics (transporting goods, be it Gear, Elements or Constructs, from a point A to a point B ) - Trading resulting from Logistics (buying low at A to sell high at B, because of scarcity at B ) - Archeology (exploring alien ruins, hunting alien artifacts) - Research (discovering new alloys from combining several raw materials, discovering new technologies from alien artifacts) - Pirating: this could happen by force or by stealth and hacking - Administrator: assuming managing functions or operational/administrative functions in large organizations We have noticed also player expectations related to entertainment activities: Opening a pub ingame, being able to dance or play music instruments, having jukebox, etc. This is not in the roadmap for the Alpha (and only a few of all the professions listed above will be implemented for the Alpha). But we'll see what we can include in the game for the beta and then the official release. Central Trade Hub - While this topic may be a little premature, I am hoping as we get more information in the future anything we discuss on this can begin to be fleshed out. Eve Online has a many trade hubs, but THE trade hub is known as Jita. Anything and everything can be found there. While DU will be a different game in its own right, should we as the first players look into trying to create a centralized trade hub in the early stages of the game? By a collective effort from the community, we could easily create said market. Or, we could let things happen naturally. The latter will happen either way, and throughout different regions. What are your thoughts? There are two possibilities here (it hasn?t been decided yet which one will be deployed): There could be an ?arkship market hub? right from the beginning, to help players start the economy in the first days or even months after the game official release. This wouldn?t prevent players to create and deploy their own market hubs in remote places once they have grasped all the game mechanisms related to it. NPCs will create market orders buy and sell orders that will act as money faucets and money sinks) It could be up to the players to install the first Market Units wherever they choose, which triggers the event to attract some NPCs who will create market orders (the exact mechanism that will determine the amount of NPCs involved and their behavior according to your location, will be described in a future devblog) This should be the main way to bootstrap the economy. Once people will have enough in-game money, they will be able to trade easily between them, through Market and Information Units, without the need of NPCs. More information about Market Units & Information Units: - About Market Units: a player or organization that owns a Market Unit can decide to setup a fee for any transaction occurring through it, which might obviously become a very profitable business. Balancing the cost of maintaining a Market Unit (energy, defence, etc) against the risk of creating a competitor market with lower fees will be an interesting part of the gameplay that we are still working on. - About Information Units: yes, they will have a limited set of ranges. However, it will be possible to chain them, and even to rent the access to a set of linked Information Units, opening opportunities to sell access to large networks of information. Yes, a bit like Internet! Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi Hylios, A similar idea (but probably not this extent) was suggested a few months ago (by Petdcat, if I remember correctly). This is still something that must be discussed internally. The 2 main obstacles would be: - to be sure there is no legal problem to allow imported music. - the time to develop this and include it on the roadmap. I'll keep you informed as this topic evolves in the team. P.S: I have deleted the copy of this post to keep the forum tidy Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi everyone! The idea is interesting, but it's unlikely that we will be able to include this on the roadmap in a near future. Nevertheless, it will be transmitted to the dev team as usual. Thanks for the suggestion! Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi Kdchan, Welcome to the official Dual Universe forum! We hope you will find here what you expect from MMO sandbox games! Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi everyone, Yes, the article was a bit unexpected as we didn't contact MassivelyOp staff beforehand. (it was planned, but not before a few months). As the official communication is not yet ready, it's understandable to see skepticism and harsh comments, often tied to partial knowledge of the game and/or shortcuts taken leading to misinterpretation. As several of you already said: that's the internet. No need to be angry. If you think someone has understand wrong, just let him explain what he has perceived from the game, and then explain to him on which parts he was wrong. Some spicy comments can also point to a real problem, so they shouldn't be ignored too quickly. I tried to make some clarifications below the article, but my livefyre account doesn't seem to have authorization to display the comments I post. I'm currently investigating if there's something wrong with MassivelyOp staff. Nobody can prevent salty comments to appear. But we can certainly correct false statements, methodically and calmly, one after another. "Anger leads to hate, hate leads to the Dark Side" said a little green wise man a long time ago Edit: Welcome on our forum, Falstaf! Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hi Lateris and welcome! As mentioned in the January Newsletter sent this week-end, screenshots are coming soon (first quarter 2016 if all goes well ). Best Regards, Nyzaltar.

Hello Robot_Noodle. Welcome to our forum! If you have any question, just let us know Best Regards, Nyzaltar.