NQ-Wanderer

Hello, dear Noveans! Let us know below your thoughts on the DAC status update!

Hello, Noveans! We have good news: DACs are coming to Dual Universe! As many of you already know, DACs are an important feature of the game’s economy, allowing players to gain game time with quanta. We will initially be releasing a website-based DACs system in the coming months and will then be further developing the system moving forward. WHAT IS A DAC? A Digital Access Coupon (DAC) is equivalent to a month of subscription. Think of it as a digital coupon that you can use to gain 30 days of subscription time or transfer to another player. HOW CAN I REDEEM AND TRANSFER DACs? Players will interact with this first iteration of DACs on our website. You’ll be able to see an overview of your DACs and be able to redeem as many as you’d like in exchange for game time. You’ll also be able to find other players by searching for their name and transfer DACs to them, but in order to receive DACs, a player must first have an account or create one on our website. There are no limits to the amount of DACs that may be transferred from one account to another. You will also be able to view your DACs history, giving you an overview of previous transactions. HOW DO I GET DACs? The initial set of DACs being released has already been purchased by our Kickstarter backers through the Founder and Supporter packages. You can however receive DACs from any player who has already purchased them, for example in exchange for quanta, allowing you to buy Dual Universe game time using your in-game assets, or to gift game time to friends. Just as a reminder, we wish to reinforce that this is only the first iteration of DACs in Dual Universe. We’ll be adding to this system over time and will work on integrating DACs into the game as an item that can be traded directly from a market. As always, we welcome your thoughts and look forward to reading your feedback in this forum thread.

Hello Noveans, Many thanks to all of you who have been with us from our Kickstarter campaign. We appreciate your support and your patience and would like to update you on the status of the rewards you have been waiting for. THE PHYSICAL KICKSTARTER REWARDS Production on the Dual Universe figurines and the Collector Box is complete. However, there are two challenges in shipping them: First, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the price of shipping has risen significantly. It has reached a point where sending the rewards would cost as much as producing them. We had hoped that these price rises would only be temporary, but we now know that they won’t decrease in the short to medium future. We’ve therefore taken the decision to absorb the increased cost and to move forward with shipping the physical rewards. The second challenge has come from our partner responsible for handling the shipping of the physical rewards. They’ve recently informed us that they won’t be able to complete the task. We are therefore searching for a new partner to take receipt of the physical rewards and to start shipping them to you as quickly as possible. THE VIRTUAL KICKSTARTER REWARDS Both the Kickstarter Founder Packs and the Supporter Packs will be released throughout the milestones of 2022 in Dual Universe. We’ll give you more concrete details on exactly when you can expect each part of those rewards packages to be released in the months ahead. Your support and patience mean a lot to all of us at Novaquark, and the delivery of your Kickstarter rewards is one of our priorities. We thank you again for your support and will update you with more information as quickly as we can.

Hello Noveans, let us know your thoughts on 2FA implementation right below!

Novaquark is releasing Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for added account security for our Dual Universe players. 2FA is simple yet effective: it adds an extra layer of protection to your account. As Dual Universe moves forward, we want to reward those players who choose to opt in. On top of the benefits of added account security, players will also receive the following rewards in-game: Talents: One million free skill points* added to your available pool. Money: Five hundred thousands quanta* of it, to be exact. Fashion: An exclusive skin for your programming boards to show off your commitment to security: *These figures may be revised in the future HOW IT WORKS You can enable or disable 2FA in the ‘security,’ section of your account at www.dualuniverse.game/account/security at any time. Once you have enabled 2FA, your in-game rewards will be delivered to your account the next time you login. When 2FA is enabled, in addition to your password, you will be required to enter a one-time code that is generated by an authenticator app on your phone when attempting to log in. We hope you’ll enjoy flying through Helios with added peace of mind. Share your thoughts on the implementation of 2FA here!

Hello, dear Noveans! What did you think about out latest trailer SPACE WARFARE: A DUAL UNIVERSE STORY? Let us know below!

'Space Warfare' is a short film set in the Dual Universe Metaverse. It's a narrative story showcasing the new weapons and PvP hotspots (Alien Core Units) brought to Dual Universe in the new, 'Athena,' update. Watch as Deckard's crew find a treasure too big to resist and count their quanta while still floating in hostile space. What could go wrong? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “It’s a trap,” Mojo said as he read the scan results again, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, especially not out here in this cosmic bog.” Mojo shook his head, trying to shake the feeling that something, or someone, was coming for them. Still, if these scan results were right, no fear of a fight would stop him from taking a bite. The white shine of suit lights caught his eye and he looked up from the consoles of his gun-seat to see Deckard drifting across the structure’s surface, his light passing by craters that some unknown weapons-fire had left in the silicon hull who knows how long ago. “True,” Deckard agreed, his voice crackling in Mojo's ear from some unknown radio interference. “But with all this free plasma, we could probably afford a steak or two, wouldn’t you say?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you to NQ-Deckard, NQ-Mojo, and our talented video artists for bringing this short film to life! Please share your thoughts on this trailer here.

Greetings, Noveans. Now that Athena is out, we would love to hear your thoughts on this new update and all the features and improvements it brings to the game!

Prepare your warships, Noveans: Athena update 0.29 has arrived in Dual Universe. The goddess of war and wisdom brings many features and improvements to the game such as contested resource hotspots in space, an improved First Time User Experience (FTUE) and many upgraded visual effects. Watch the video to see for yourself why Athena is a game changer: NEW FEATURES AND SYSTEMS SPACE TERRITORY WARFARE: We are introducing ‘Alien Space Core Units’, which you can find scattered around at various locations outside of the Safe Space zone. These Alien Cores provide resources to whoever can fight to take and hold them. NEW FTUE: Dual Universe’s First Time User Experience has been drastically upgraded to provide players with an easier to understand, more concise and overall improved introduction to the game. The starting experience will take place on a brand-new safe moon called: Haven. STASIS WEAPONS: Designed to reduce the maximum velocity of targeted ships, these weapons allow you to tackle those who try to swarm or out maneuver you. This will add more dynamics and possibilities to engaging in space battles across Helios. SPACE TRAVEL SPEED BALANCES: A constructs’ mass will now impact their speed: the heavier the ship, the less its maximum speed will be. Smaller, more agile constructs can now catch up with the heavier ones! SYSTEM MAP: our new system map gives powerful new tools to players in visualizing the Helios system with new and improved menus, filters, navigation, and more! LUA: Athena’s Lua changes bring many community-requested features into the game. SPACE MARKET: With the introduction of the Aegis Market, players can now directly access a bot-free market housed in the void of space, between Alioth, Madis, and Thades. IMPROVEMENTS PVP VOXEL IMPROVEMENTS: We’ve improved performance when voxels are being destroyed. Thanks to the player reports we've received, we have been working hard to identify this voxel issue and have been able to improve on this system. GRAPHICAL UPGRADE: From Blueprint Pre-Visualisation to a new Sky Box, to water and warp VFX, we’ve worked hard to improve the look of the game in Athena. A full list of what’s new in Athena is also available on our forum. KEEP THE FEEDBACK FLOWING The constructive feedback we receive from our players continues to have an incredible impact on the continuing development of Dual Universe. Many of the features and changes we are bringing to the game are based on players' requests. Please continue to share your opinions! We’ll be carefully reading your comments on this forum discussion thread.

Dear Noveans, let us know your thoughts on our latest VFX devblog right below!

Hello, Noveans! We’ve teased graphical upgrades coming to Dual Universe in Athena across our social media over the past couple of weeks, but we also want to present them to you now together to give a clear picture of what’s changing ahead: NEW SKYBOX A stunning skybox is essential for enjoyable space flight in games, and Dual Universe is no exception. Whether you’re hauling outside the pipes, hunting within them, or trying to claim an Alien Space Core Unit, you’ll fly in the new skybox coming with Athena. BLUEPRINT PRE-VISUALISATION The ability to see your blueprints visualized in the game before placing them, and to finely control their placement using keyboard keys will improve our player’s quality of life when deploying constructs. IMPROVED WATER VISUALS Living under water in Dual Universe can be more meaningful with the upgrade to our water VFX. Whether you want a sub-aquatic factory, to loop your racetrack below the water line, or simply have an internal pool, we hope you’ll like the way water looks now in Dual Universe. NEW WARP VFX White streaks are part and parcel of space games, they mean we’re moving fast! But, with the graphical overhaul to our warp travel, we hope you’ll enjoy the feel of spending a warp-cell or two roaming Helios. ----------------------------------------- We’re always carefully reading your feedback. Do you like the new warp vfx, or the new skybox? Please share your thoughts in this forum thread.

Hello, Noveans. What do you think about the upcoming Athena Lua additions? Let us know right here!

Hello, Noveans! Athena’s Lua changes bring many community-requested features into the game, and there is a lot to go over, so let's dive right in! SIGNS REFORGED We’re revising the resolution of opaque and transparent screens to 1024x513 pixels in order to better fit them into the real screen element dimensions and improve image resolution on screens. Also, each sign will now have a resolution adapted to its actual size: Horizontal Sign XS : 1024x512 Horizontal Sign S : 1024x1024 Horizontal Sign M : 1024x512 Horizontal Sign L : 1024x256 Vertical Sign XS : 512x1024 Vertical Sign M : 512x1024 Vertical Sign L : 256x1024 These changes are also accompanied by new features and substantive changes. NEW TEXT & COLORS RENDERING With this update, we’re making a fundamental change in text rendering technology. Called, ‘Signed Distance Field,’ (SDF), this rendering method allows for cleaner rendering at any font size and also supports effects such as outlines and shadows. As a result, here are some text-related changes in the Rendering Lua API: [int] loadFont([string] fontName,[int] defaultSize) - The font size setting becomes the "default" font size and can be changed during script execution with the setFontSize function. addText([int] layer,[int] font,[string] text,[float] x,[float] y) - Now supports the following properties : fillColor, shadow, strokeColor, strokeWidth. And some additions: [float] getFontSize([int] font): Return the currently-set size for the given font. setFontSize([int] font,[int] size): Set the size at which a font will render. setDefaultTextAlign([int] layer,[int] alignH,[int] alignV): Set the default text alignment of all subsequent text strings on the given layer. But that's not all! As you may have seen from the image below, we have also added support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) colors which will let you add a glow effect on your colors. To use the HDR colors, you just have to set color values higher than 1 in the colors you use; commonly multiply each color component by the same HDR coefficient. As an example, here is the ‘PEGGED,’ screen from Bonusaben’s Underdun Arcade modified with HDR colors: LET’S MOVE LAYERS One of the most common requests for screen rendering has been the ability to apply transformations (translation, rotation and scaling) to text. Given that this is not strategically optimal for rendering, we’ve decided to apply transformations to layers instead with the following functions: setLayerOrigin([int] layer,[float] x,[float] y): Set the transform origin of a layer; layer scaling and rotation are applied relative to this origin. setLayerRotation([int] layer,[float] rotation): Set a rotation applied to the layer as a whole, relative to the layer's transform origin. setLayerScale([int] layer,[float] sx,[float] sy): Set a scale factor applied to the layer as a whole, relative to the layer's transform origin. setLayerTranslation([int] layer,[float] tx,[float] ty): Set a translation applied to the layer as a whole. We’ve also added a clipping area! This allows you to define an area to limit rendering per zone, especially useful for making scrolling areas and so on. setLayerClipRect([int] layer,[float] x,[float] y,[float] sx,[float] sy): Set a clipping rectangle applied to the layer as a whole. Please note that anything drawn outside of the clipping area will not be visible but will still be counted in the rendering budget. THE MINING UNIT API As already announced in Athena roadmap, we’ve decided to add a Lua API allowing players to take accurate information from Mining Units with the following functions: [string] getStatus() : Returns the current status of the mining unit ("STOPPED", "STALLED", "RUNNING") [float] getRemainingTime() : Returns the time remaining on the drilling process. [int] getActiveOre() : Returns the ID of the current selected resource. [table] getOrePools() : Returns the list of resources pool on the territory. Each resource pool object of the list contains ‘id’, ‘available’ and ‘maximum’ fields. [float] getBaseRate() : Returns the base production rate of the mining unit. [float] getEfficiency() : Returns the production efficiency of the mining unit. [float] getAdjacencyBonus() : Returns the territory's production adjacency bonus factor. This value will only be updated when a new batch is started. [float] getCalibrationRate() : Returns the current calibration rate of the mining unit. [float] getOptimalRate() : Returns the optimal calibration rate of the mining unit. [float] getProductionRate() : Returns the production rate of the mining unit. [vec3] getLastExtractionPosition() : Returns the position of the extracted ore during the last calibration in world coordinates. [int] getLastExtractingPlayerId() : Returns the ID of the last player who calibrated the mining unit. [float] getLastExtractionTime() : Returns the time in seconds since the last calibration of the mining unit. [float] getLastExtractedVolume() : Returns the amount of ore extracted during the last calibration. [int] getLastExtractedOre() : Returns the ID of the extracted ore during the last calibration. And with some events: [event] statusChanged([string] status) : Emitted when the mining unit status is changed. Provide the new status. [event] completed([int] oreId, [float] amount) : Emitted when the mining unit completes a batch. Provide the item ID of the mined ore and the amount mined in the batch. [event] calibrated([int] oreId, [float] amount, [float] rate) : Emitted when the mining unit is calibrated. Provide the item ID of the extracted ore, the amount extracted and the new calibration rate. THE ITEM API We have chosen to integrate the notion of item-IDs in a more concrete way. This is the first API using this principle, which seems to us the most adapted. Some functions and events will provide you with an ID designating an item in the game. We will then integrate the getItem function: [table] getItem([int] id): Return the item table corresponding to the given item ID. The returned table will then contain the following information: [int] id : The ID of the item. [string] name : The name used to define the item. [string] displayName : The name of the item used in the game. [string] locDisplayName : The name of the item used in the game in the language of your game. [string] displayNameWithSize : The name of the item used in the game with the size (XS,S,M,L). [string] locDisplayNameWithSize : The name of the item used in the game with the size (XS,S,M,L) in the language of your game. [string] description : The description of the item in English. [string] locDescription : The description of the item in the language of your game. [string] type : The type of item. [float] unitMass : The unit mass of the item. [float] unitVolume : The unit volume of the item. [int] tier : The tier of the item (1 to 5) [string] size : The size of the item (xs, s, m, l) [string] iconPath : The path of the item's icon in the game files (usable on the screens). BONUS FEATURES We’ve also decided to include several smaller features with this update: The function allowing you to draw a quadratic Bézier curve: addBezier([int] layer,[float] x1,[float] y1,[float] x2,[float] y2,[float] x3,[float] y3): Add a quadratic Bézier curve to the given layer. Supported properties: shadow, strokeColor, strokeWidth. Additional functionality for images: addImageSub([int] layer,[int] image,[float] x,[float] y,[float] sx,[float] sy,[float] subX,[float] subY,[float] subSx,[float] subSy): Add a sub-region of an image to the given layer. Supported properties: fillColor, rotation. [float],[float] getImageSize([int] image): Return the width and height of an image. Finally, a function that lets you know the language setting of the rendering client: [string] getLocale(): Return the locale in which the game is currently running (“en-EN”, “fr-FR”, “de-DE”). CONCLUSION Our goal is always to provide a larger and more feature-rich panel while maintaining rendering performance, and we hope that you will enjoy these Lua additions coming in Athena. As always, we appreciate your feedback, so please share your thoughts and let us know your ideas on what Rendering Lua-related improvements and/or additions you would like to see in Dual Universe. Also, our API approach seems to be suitable and could potentially be applied to other API’s in-game, but we’d love to hear your feedback on that first. NQ-Ligo is looking forward to discussing them with you in this forum thread!

Greetings, Noveans. Let us know your thoughts on the upcoming new system map here!

Our new system map overhaul gives powerful new tools to players in visualizing the Helios system. You can read about this new Athena update feature below! OVERVIEW Players can now see and navigate around the entire system map laid out to scale in three dimensions. Setting a Warp Point will no longer replace your current destination. Players may now set a destination waypoint separately to a warp-specific waypoint. Space resources such as the Alien Core Units are accessible through the map. We’ve added a better organized menu that opens quicker and has a more useful filter system in the top-left menu, allowing players to filter items on the map by name, owner, or construct type. Players can see coordinates displayed in real time as they move the target around the map, allowing for precise copying of coordinates, position input and bookmark creation. THE CONTROLS You can freely move around the map, rotate it by holding left click, pan around horizontally by holding left + right click and pan vertically by holding right click. You can zoom by scrolling your mouse wheel. You can also reset your view back to default with a button in the top menu. You can toggle display settings using the associated button in the top panel, such as the target plane or the safe zones. This will let you choose the amount of elements visible on the map at all times. You can select any item with left click, select and move to any item with double-left click, and select, move to and reorient the camera with middle click. You will also see an exact distance indicator between your avatar and any location (or your current selection and any location, if there is one), by mousing over them. Distances can also be quickly gauged using the grid size indicator at the top. Players may set destinations, warp points, open planet maps and more from the menu on the top-right of the map when selected. These actions are also served through contextual menus displayed on bodies in the map. ---------------------------------------- As always, we’d like to hear from you. How do you like the new map? Will it have an impact on your game? Please let us know here.

Hello, Noveans. What are you thoughts regarding our SHEDDING LIGHT ON A NOVAQUARK INTERNAL DISCUSSION communication? Let us know below!

Following our policy of being as transparent as possible and to keep everyone informed, we want to give you some insight about the internal discussions the Novaquark team has on the delicate topic on whether we’re going to have a wipe or not, and under which form. The discussions are numerous, as there is no easy answer and we have to take into account all of the pros and cons for each possible solution. We also have been taking into account the players discussions which have happened - and for some, are still happening - on Discord and our official forum. On one hand we have you, our early backers and players, who supported us for quite some time now, and we want to renew our thanks for being so patient and passionate about Dual Universe. On the other hand, we have the constraints of making the game appealing to new players. Please note: By “new players”, we mean players who’ve just heard about Dual Universe, but we also have many backers that have chosen not to participate during Alpha and Beta, so they can begin playing once the game has reached a polished enough state with game mechanics. SO, WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS WE HAVE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT? We know that players have repeatedly asked for an answer to this question. It has been on the table for many months, if not since the Beta opened. The team has been discussing many options on the topic and we’ve gone back to the drawing board many times. Here is an overview of the factors that we are taking under consideration: A reset would be an opportunity to remove things that have been deemed very unpopular by the already existing community, such as the schematics. The only way to remove them in a clean way without causing too many disturbances in the economy is clearly when the in-game economy has been just reset. Many tests/adjustments during Beta have impacted the in-game economy, leading to have some players getting extremely rich way faster than intended, due to an intensive use of some features in their early stage, such as the mission system (and that's understandable, as the situation is part of a normal process in the development of a game). However, it's also common practice in the game development process to usually have some kind of reset when critical milestones are reached, and resetting the economy to have a healthy start once the game has been stabilized and the game features have become more balanced makes sense. As you, our current experienced players, will have quite an advantage compared to the new players on many levels (game knowledge, talent points, wealth, constructs already owned), there's a need to make things a bit more balanced to give a fighting chance to the wave of new players that will join the Community later. We also want to give all the players (new players as much as a big part of the early backers who have waited for the game to be in a fairly polished state) to have the opportunity of the right start. In case of a wipe, finding a way for our veteran players to allow them to keep (or rebuild quickly) their favorite constructs, without creating any loophole for players to bypass the reset (and defeat the purpose of why it’s done). Some planets currently do not have the quality and polished state the Novaquark team wants to give them. We also have seen that a part of the Community has the same opinion on the topic, and this is why the dev team has been planning a revamp for the planets which haven’t received one already. WE CONSIDERED SEVERAL ALTERNATIVES SO FAR TO REACH THESE GOALS: - Doing no wipe at all. Pros: Satisfying for some of our long-time builders and traders Cons: Unsatisfying for players wanting to discover the game and start with a more polished version of the game. Does not allow to remove Schematics properly. Does not allow to revamp the old planets properly. Does not allow the rebalancing of the economy properly. Potentially keeping bugs related to very old Constructs. - Making a partial wipe where the economy would be wiped, but not the Constructs, which would keep all player-made creations intact, with also in mind to prevent some players from storing resources on said Constructs to circumvent the reset of the economy. Pros: Relatively satisfying for some of our long-time builders. Cons: Extremely complex to put in place properly without the known loopholes interfering (such as piling up Resources and Elements on existing Constructs before a wipe and removing them after to sell them). Unknown loopholes could break the wanted healthy economic reset. Does not allow to revamp the old planets properly. Potentially keeping bugs related to very old Constructs. - Having a “legacy” live server and a new live server, where only the blueprints made before the new server opening would be transferred to the new live server. Pros: Could prevent any wipe with this solution while managing issues the dev team is trying to solve. Cons: Opens a number of new issues server-side. Would split the Community. - Having a full wipe (except blueprints) with solutions to make old time players able to rebuild their favorite Constructs quickly through various means. (Here are a few examples of discussed ideas to reach this goal: for our veteran backers, starting pool of talents points and/or quanta, resource multiplier event right after the reset, etc.). Pros: Prevents loopholes for an economic reset compared to a partial wipe. Most efficient, proper way to remove schematics. Most efficient, proper way to handle a planet revamp. Cons: Some possibilities discussed could be seen as an unfair advantage. Keep in mind, if the above solution is decided on, that an improved version of the Blueprint / Construct deployment tool available to all players will be implemented in-game at the time (or maybe even before) such a solution would be applied to the game. Such improved version will enable players to have: A preview of the Construct before deploying the said Construct from a blueprint (this feature should be available with Athena release). An ability to auto-align the preview of the Construct on an already deployed Construct (this feature should be available a bit later after Athena release). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Though this may seem to be a long explanation, it’s a (very) short description of everything the Novaquark team has discussed so far on this topic. So stay tuned, and we thank you again for your patience and support. As mentioned before, our decision will not be made on a whim, but will be made considering and pondering all of the factors mentioned above. Let us know your thoughts on all this here!

Greetings, Noveans. Let us know your thoughts about our latest DEVBLOG: A MARKET IN SPACE!

The upcoming 0.29 Athena update is about more than just PvP and improved visuals. Among the many features this update brings is the Aegis Market. Read on to learn more about this new commercial hub in space. SPACE ECONOMY With the introduction of The Aegis Market, players may now directly access a bot-free market housed in the void of space. Located in a zero-gravity environment, the Market station provides a new dynamic in the transport of cargo, in that merchandise can be bought and sold without the need to make planetfall. Players can now transport resources, including from the new Alien Core Units, and sell them at a market using craft designed purely to function in space. This, along with the updates to our Space Warfare feature can provide new design routes to the next generation of player designed spaceships in Dual Universe. NEW PATHS AND AVENUES TO EXPLORE The Aegis Market is a vast place and it’s surrounded by landing pads for ships to dock. These pads have teleporters which can then take the players straight to the core of the market. The landing pads are all named after the planet nearest to them, and are only about 1KM away from the Aegis. A landing pad where ships can dock. Teleporters leading players to the market. The market is located at the very center point of the safe zone, at roughly equal distance from Alioth, Madis and Thades. There is also a public warp beacon to the Aegis Market available. Please note that the Aegis Market has an interdiction zone surrounding it. You can't deploy a space core within 50KM of its location. You can however, deploy a dynamic core in this surrounding zone - just like in Aphelia territories on the planets. SPACE MARKETS – SYSTEM EXPANSION While we study the impact and player reactions to the addition of the Aegis Market, we will only be implementing this single new space market. If we can determine that the implementation of this feature is a positive addition to our game, we will explore the option of adding more of them in the future. We’d like to invite you to share your thoughts with us on this feature. Would you like to see more space markets in Dual Universe? What is your initial reaction to their implementation? Please Let us know your feedback here!

We’re opening the PTS for a third and final Athena session! If you’ve missed the previous tests, or if you want to play more of Athena’s content, we invite you to join and play this Thursday! As always, we’re grateful to all Noveans who take the time to visit the PTS. The goal of these sessions is to gather as much feedback as possible for the update we’re testing. The more feedback we get, the better we can fine-tune the Athena update. Our development team continues to make changes, thanks to your efforts, and we hope to continue moving in that direction with this final PTS session. ATHENA LAST SESSION ON PTS - SCHEDULE - From Thursday 14th, 13:00 UTC to Tuesday 19th, 09:00 UTC The focus of this session is quite simple: all our Athena update features! The more feedback we can gather on the many features coming in Athena, the better. Please bear in mind that we are working on making changes based on your feedback from the previous PTS tests, and that these changes will be listed once the PTS session opens. You can find more information on Athena below: - PvP devblog - FTUE devblog Please stay tuned for future Devblogs coming soon! As always, we would like to remind players that this is a Public Test Server and as such, many unforeseen issues can arise; this can include performance and stability issues. We will do our best to remedy any issues as soon as possible. We look forward to reading your feedback for our Athena update in our Forum thread here.

Hello there! What do you think about our latest DEVBLOG: NEW FTUE IN ATHENA? Let us know here!

Greetings Noveans, there is an important part of our Athena update that we have not discussed yet: our new First Time User Experience (FTUE) tutorial. Let’s remedy this without further ado! Dual Universe’s FTUE has been drastically improved upon to provide players with an easier to understand, more concise and overall better introduction to the game. Here are the details about what the new FTUE includes: SAFE MOONS As many of you know, we provide every player with a Safe Moon territory. Safe Moons are planets placed in a Safe Zone of space, where no PvP actions are allowed. In addition to being PvP-safe, the territories on these Safe Moons are permanent, which means once you have claimed such a territory, you have a persistent residence in the solar system. The Safe Moons are also excluded from Upkeep Costs.which we believe are a crucial aspect for a player’s peace of mind, should they need to take a break from Dual Universe at any time. As the game continues to expand and more Noveans join the adventure, we added a brand new planet: Haven. It is one of the Safe Moons of Alioth, the other one being the well known Sanctuary. With this update, new players will now land directly on the moon called Haven, which is designed specifically to be friendly for new players: it has three main rings of land, each of which present with different environments, as well as no bodies of water. Haven has a total of six biomes, and 20 new markets - including 10 districts that connect Haven to both Alioth and Sanctuary thanks to a shuttle system that players can take freely. No matter where players find themselves, they can now easily visit their fellow Noveans! Haven Shuttle Station STARTING THE FTUE A big change in the new FTUE is that players will begin their journey by landing on Haven. Once they complete their character customization, they will then be required to select their starting territory. The new players will then find themselves in a lander directly over their selected territory. It will automatically be claimed by the player and Aphelia will guide them through the rest of the FTUE. Players will also choose an Outpost to deploy on the planet as part of the introduction to the game. Outposts are small bases that allow players to try their hand in Dual Universe’s basic features. They are equipped with a Resurrection Node, a VR Station and a Basic Mining Unit S (small) to provide them with a smoother start. Aphelia will direct players to the location of these elements in each Outpost, and explain their purpose. There are ten different outposts to choose from. Which one players choose is purely a reflection of their design preferences. For example, they may wish to go for a new settlement aesthetic and choose the Station Outpost. On the other hand, the Pilot Outpost provides players with a runway for an aviation environment. Don’t forget the Tri Outpost with how it brings a sci-fi feel as it elevates just off the ground! Station Outpost Tri Outpost After the quick introduction is over and players have explored their Outpost, they are then free to do what they like. Players can find suggestions of next steps using the Outpost’s ‘Objectives screen’, use the VR Station for advanced tutorials, expand their Outpost constructs or venture out into the universe with an organization or as a lone wolf. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the fundamentals learned and the introduction complete, players will now have what they need to begin their Dual Universe journey. What will they create? Which organization will they join? The tools are in your inventory Noveans, what will you choose? Your feedback on the new and improved FTUE is invaluable so that we can welcome many new players to our game and improve Dual Universe. Please help us make this the best experience possible for everyone by providing your feedback here!

We would like to thank each and every one of you who has taken the time to visit our Public Test Server (PTS) and that tried our new Athena update. A special thanks to those who were able to attend our Fools Defense PvP event on April 1st, we hope you enjoyed it! We recognize a good number of players were unable to attend the PTS event due to other engagements. As with any test, we had to make sure that our development teams were able to actively monitor and be present as the event took place. Thanks to your participation though, we have been able to identify some areas in need of improvements or adjustments - and thanks to your feedback, we will be working on improving them. In addition, we are excited to announce that we will be bringing the PTS up for a couple of additional days, before heading into the next portion of our PTS test for Athena. ATHENA ON PTS - SCHEDULE - Wednesday 6th April 13:00 UTC to Friday 8th 09:00 UTC We have finished adding more of the late stage game items, such as the schematics for the new Relic Plasma Harvester and Space Mining Unit, along with the variants of elements that have been introduced. We have also applied some fixes for added performance and stability for players to test out. - Friday 8th April 11:00 UTC to Monday 11st April 09:00 UTC Moving into the second part of our planned PTS testing for Athena, we’ll be focusing on the First Time User Experience (FTUE) beginner introduction guide. More information on this will be released very soon, so keep your eyes open for the upcoming devblog with all the details! In order to fully test the new FTUE, the PTS will be completely reset on Friday, April 8th (hence the two hours maintenance between the two sessions). Please note that said maintenance might be a bit longer. But once it is done, everyone that connects to the PTS will be able to experience the new FTUE in detail. Of course, there will still be dispenser towers providing many in-game items for free, so players are able to continue to test other features that they are interested in as well. Regarding the FTUE itself, brace yourselves for an upcoming devblog on this topic! The FTUE devblog will be available by the end of this week, so keep on the lookout for it. There will be many details to help you get ready for the FTUE PTS session! As always, we would like to remind players that this is a Public Test Server and as such, many unforeseen issues can arise; this can include performance and stability issues. In the event that issues do arise, we will do our best to remedy them as soon as possible. Get out to the PTS and test when the time comes! We look forward to reading your feedback for our Athena update in our Forum thread here.

Hello, Noveans! We can wait to read your feedback on the new DEVBLOG: PVP IN ATHENA.

The temperature is on the rise and the pressure is on with the upcoming Athena 0.29 update in Dual Universe! Before gearing up for war, get ready by checking this devblog all about PvP features in the Athena update. SPACE TERRITORY WARFARE We are introducing ‘Alien Space Core Units’, which you can find scattered around in various locations outside of the Safe Space zone. These Alien Cores will generate resources and provide any capturing party with a building platform. From that building platform, the resources generated by these Cores can then be harvested through the new Space Mining Units and the Relic Plasma Extractor. You might be wondering, so how does this work exactly? Any player who is first to arrive at an Alien Core location is able to claim ownership of said Alien Core. They can then use the Core like a regular one to build a standing base, on which they can place the new Space Mining Units and Relic Plasma Extractors and start gathering the Core’s resources. Be sure to employ the brand new Space Unit Shield Generator to protect your investments. Similar to the previous iteration of the shield generators, they can be adjusted to defend against certain damage types, but they come with a few changes. Notably, these shield generators do not have the feature to vent; instead, when they reach 60%, they will go into Lockdown. When a construct enters Lockdown, a countdown timer will start (with a minimum of 18 hours) and the clock will tick down until a time specified when setting up a shield generator by the defenders. This timer will not be initially publicly disclosed, whereas anyone who is viewing the construct will be able to see the time remaining. Also, during this time, all weapons mounted and other elements will be locked out. As you may have noticed, the Space Mining Units, Relic Plasma Extractors and Space Unit Shield Generators are all new additions to Dual Universe. All of these items will be craftable, sellable, as well as tradable by players. SPACE TRAVEL MAX SPEED & BALANCE Due to the issues raised with the Missions system and with the imbalance of construct sizes in PvP, we have altered the behavior around a construct’s maximum speed. A constructs’ mass will now impact their speed: the heavier the ship, the less its maximum speed will be. This will allow for better balancing regarding the Missions system, as well as PvP tactics of heavier constructs: smaller, more agile constructs can now catch up with the heavier ones! STASIS WEAPONS Say hello to the first ‘Electronic Warfare’ weapon! Designed to reduce the maximum velocity of targeted ships, allowing you to swat those who try to swarm or out maneuver you. This will add more dynamics and possibilities to the field of battle. It is important to note that anyone who is being targeted by a Stasis Weapon, can also use one on their attacker! This allows for both offensive/defensive gameplay utilization. Stasis weapons can be crafted like other PvP items. They use their own specific ammunition, which can also be crafted. PVP VOXEL IMPROVEMENTS We improved performance when voxels are being destroyed. We have been working hard to identify the issue, and thanks to many player reports, we have been able to improve on this system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall, we believe that these combined changes will provide more content and interest for our PvP players, as well as providing exciting and possible lucrative rewards. It is our intention to change the current ‘meta’ behavior and ship design, which do not currently coincide with our vision for Dual Universe. We understand the concerns some of you have with some of these changes, especially the maximum travel speed, as many players enjoyed and embraced the ‘realism’ that the game provided. While we do sympathize with those players, it is important for us to create a balanced, diverse and fun environment for everyone. As always, we will be keeping a close attention to the effects these changes have within Dual Universe and make revisions if we feel it is needed.. Please remember that this is just the first iteration of these changes, so further balancing and changes could still occur. We hope you enjoy these new features! Your feedback always helps us in refining the changes we bring to Dual Universe, so please don’t hesitate to let us know what you think here!