Ardes

Weekly Update - May 4th - 2020
 
Only one rescue was made this weekend, that's 46 rescues for alpha 3 and 102 overall.
 
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Ardescar assisted @Rudi0043 after they crashed on Thades, you can probably guess why.  ?
 
Outside of rescues, most of our focus this weekend was on the Alioth Areospace Expo! From what I've been told, it's a biannual in-game event that showcases all the creativity the community has to offer. After some of the team expressed interest we had decided that instead of setting up right on the showroom floor that we would create our own private showroom just off to the side. The construction process was complete in a day but it wasn't without its hurdles. 
 
For starters, everything was done on the fly without any pre-planning aside from a basic idea of what I wanted. Initially I thought we were just going to do what we did last year with a flat slab of land, but this years events proved more put together by the AAE which was why the showroom was suggested by one of the team. A structure with smaller craft on the inside on a presentation floor, and a larger construct displayed on the roof. Everyone involved brought along some basic materials to get us started and from there I was left building while the rest of the team flew back and forth to their respective outposts to gather needed materials on demand. Aside from a few symmetry errors early on, I'd say everything came together fairly well for the little time and effort that was put into it. I didn't get to do everything I wished but that was mostly all little details, in the end, everything looked presentable which was the ultimate purpose.
 
In all, five constructs were displayed by @Ardes, @Haunty, and @WolfPilot. A big thanks to all three of you for your presentations as well as the logistics work you did to make this a success for Eyes & Ears. Finally, credit and thanks to @Geo for hosting the event.
 
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Outside the game, a bit of diplomacy is being done. I'll be sure to update you on this hopefully after the next test which starts in 10 days from now. In the meantime, a scheduled wipe will be taking place so everyone will be starting fresh.
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Weekly Update - April 27th - 2020
 
This most recent 264 hour test only had 5 rescues made, that's 45 rescues for Alpha 3 and 101 overall.
 

 
On April 20th Eyes & Ears secured its 100th official rescue. A big thanks to the team that made this happen alongside our entire community of supporters. The time it took for us to net our first 50 rescues was over 8 months, now the latest set of 50 rescues has come in just under 4 months. This is nothing but good news as we await the further development of the game. I'm looking forward to our next achievement which I am forecasting to occur sometime during the Beta phases based on this current data.
 
Looking back however, I harbor a tinge of disappointment since in the intervening time between our 50th and 100th rescue, we've not had a single PVP related rescue. Of course, in the testing environment there are a number of ways and means which make our assistance unnecessary which made this not entirely unexpected. Aside from this, I've only heard of the more devout players engaging in PVP related testing which says to me that a very minuscule percentage of players are engaging each other in combat. As we continue down the path of development I expect our work to increase accordingly.
 
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@Flamm netted the 100th rescue when a Novean crashed on Thades, respawned on Alioth, and needed help getting back to their wreck. Nothing spectacular, we've done it less than a hundred times, and we're looking forward to doing it a hundred more!
 
I've noticed a bit of a theme regarding many of our rescues on Thades. It's that the ground always comes up faster than expected. The current diversity of planets makes me hope that NovaQuark has atmospheric phenomena in mind as that will also add to the challenge that is landing on strange planets. I would advise all travelers seek knowledge about the planet they hope to land on before they try and land. Knowledge is power, and your greatest resource to that end is your fellow testers and players.
 
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With a pair of recently announced wipes of the test environment made at the onset of this test, I didn't put in a lot of work in considering how long the the servers were online. While I worked mostly on smaller projects, a majority of my time was dedicated to organization related activity outside the test.
 
Our Discord server saw a few changes and some fresh faces.
 
The main change that was made was the addition of an On Call role that rescuers can freely apply to themselves should they wish to be pinged for every rescue that comes in. I hope that this takes at least some of the weight off of rescuers that are in direct vicinity should they be unable to.
 
Other changes include a non-member #guest-nda channel for non-organization members with NDA access. Additionally, some helpful content under the Welcome to E&E section has been made available for members, non-members, and future members alike. This is meant to smoothen out a potential new members introduction to Eyes & Ears with instructions on the application process and more in-depth details and processes on what each member role does. Much of my offline work will be focusing on adding more member roles and content to this section in the time to come.
 
As for those new members I mentioned earlier, welcome to the team the following players:
@Endstar - Rescuer
@Rastaban - Rescuer, Pilot, Programmer
 
Also, a warm welcome to our newest affiliate:
@Metric and the organization - Cobra Tec
They will be assisting us with market information in Dual Universe with a project that is currently in its beta. Feel free to contact them for more details.
 
We're happy to welcome our new members and affiliates to the team and are eager to see all they bring to the table!
 
Finally, Eyes & Ears is lining up to present two of its members ships representing our organization at the Alioth Aerospace Expo which will be going from the 1st to the 3rd of May. I'm looking forward to seeing the communities works, I don't get out and sightseeing much, so this presents a welcome time to do so!
 
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That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Have a great time and fun there We will miss you ?

50 Rescues - Weekly Update - December 30th - 2019
 
8 rescues were made over the past eleven days since holiday testing began on the 19th. That makes 39 rescues since Alpha 2 started, and 53 rescues since Alpha 1.
 

 
We hit our late goal of rounding out 2019 with 50 recorded rescues which, in my opinion, is pretty darn incredible. We're only a small team of do-gooders helping people out in the testing phase. Having come this far off of people getting stuck out in deep space, burning up on re-entry (haven't had a lot of these rescues surprisingly), or simply being re-spawned somewhere they shouldn't have and needing a lift to more familiar territory.
 
For the most part, these random or unexpected accidents are just a small start. I think after PVP comes out we'll be seeing a lot more requests for assistance. Don't worry folks, we'll be there.  
 
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As for rescues, @Armedwithwings was our first rescue of the test by Haunty with a simple pickup on Alioth and a return to their base and a lock on rescue 46.
 
I would take care of rescues 47 and 48.  A recently placed structure at a NQ designated respawn point proved useful when @ilodev sent out a call for help. I flew over and we were just about to take off again when @RJ respawned as well. After hearing their stories about how they were both doing their respective thing before a bug got in the way of their activities and respawned them, I dropped both off at their desired points on Alioth. Rok would pick up @Brahmnz the very next day at the same spot.
 
Ardes provided @BaileyVandenbroek with some fuel and building advice. No doubt it proved useful and scored rescue 50.
 
On Christmas day Ardes would meet up with @Jack_Blade who crashed underwater. Sounds like someones soft water landing didn't go as expected, luckily Christmas miracles do come true.
 
While on Symeon, Rok assisted @vihalvor with a repair and rescue 52.
 
Finally, rescue 53 happened out in space near Symeon where Rok supplied @Protius with some fuel and netted rescue 53.
 
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No major updates on my end. My new hardware didn't exactly play nice in the days after the previous update. Without boring you with the detail, everything culminated in the corruption of about 2 terabytes worth of video recordings I've done of my testing since alpha 1. I'm recovering what I can but I'll just try and be positive and think it no big loss.
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Weekly Update - December 16th
 
Four rescues were made during the past test, that makes 31 rescues for Alpha 2 and 45 overall.
 
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@maxamized started out strong and notched his first rescue early Friday morning by running some scrap out to @Reaper07 on Alioth.
 
@Dr Rhubarb also scored their first rescue after 283 days in the organization. A lack of being in the right place at the right time both in-game and in real life made his first rescue so elusive. Nonetheless, he was able to aid @Context with what our logs say is a "full ship repair". Not sure how big, but I hope the service was appreciated!
 
Haunty came to @Erquilenne's aid on Sicari with a resupply of fuel on Sicari.
 
Finally, maxamized rounded out the rescues this period with another fuel run to @TheMaGoth on Alioth.
 
The first three rescues were notably in a span of only six hours, more or less with me being totally stuck at work thanks to a change in scheduling. I will say that I was quite happy to turn up during my lunch hour to see the team had handled themselves well during my absence. While this is more or less all individual work, I hope that this is a trend that can continue into the future as the organization and team grows and develops.
 
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This is another short and frank update since it's late in the day for me and I wasn't able to attend testing over the weekend due to some conflicts between my old and new hardware (think it's RAM), hopefully that will be resolved soon though!
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Weekly Update - Sept 24th
 
 
No Jack isn't back in DU form, but when speed is key and you need help ASAP, Eyes & Ears is here for you 24 hours a day (in the future!). It also happens that our 24th rescue so I thought all of this tied in real well with the video.  
 
Testing started out fairly slow this go-around with me mostly working on coloring up a small construct from plain black to an assortment of red stripes, minor blue accents. All this ontop of a white base with black at the nose and tail of the construct, with a bit of a personal touch to make things hopefully recognizable to anyone familiar, yet subtlety different. My inspiration mostly came from US Coast Guard helicopters which you can view in the following images. 1 2
 
For those of you that have seen it in person, the layout might be a bit funky, but it's all for weight distribution purposes, trust me! Still not sure if that's an actual thing, but my pre-alpha experiences were 'fun' enough to convince me that it is such.
 
Rear Thrust > Passengers > Fuel > Vertical Engines > Cockpit
 
I'd love to share a picture of this very simple construct (now colored!) but unfortnuately the NDA prevents me from doing such. Perhaps you should head on over and purchase a pack from NovaQuark if you're so intent to see it in person? 
 
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Enough about me, lets get on with this weeks past two rescues:
 
Our first Novean, @Pwnst4r found himself stuck on Thades. Still relatively new, a combination of inadequate vertical engines and fuel mismanagement led to their situation. While one of our rescuers was up to the job, their four hour journey would have proven too time consuming for me to accept. With my position being closer, I flew out with a supply of fuel and after a rougher than intended landing, Pwnst4r was off.
 
The second Novean left Alioth but forgot to put space brakes on. Faced with crashing into their destination or force re-spawning, they choose the latter. This, however, left them unable to retrieve their ship from deep space. With no alternative and no one from NovaQuark on hand to handle the situation, a member of Eyes & Ears stepped up and flew the player out to their craft which secured our 24th rescue.
 
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With regards to the upcoming race I have a few things I'd just like to mention real quick.
 
@Kurock visited my place at District Lag 1 and we advanced further discussions previously had in Discord. For starters, the race will be a double sprint from Alioth, to a checkpoint on one of it's moons where racers will verify themselves through currently undisclosed means, then back again to the starting point. I've purposed the idea of Eyes & Ears setting up a fueling station, nothing too complex, just a couple dozen decorative fuel tanks. No convenience store or canopy and pumps like modern stations so racers will have a very easy time coming and going from this checkpoint without fear of crashing or landing unevenly.
 
I have yet to decide if this station will be comprised of dispensers or if it will have an actual "pit crew" with which racers can refuel and repair at, it's something I'll be talking with the rest of the Eyes & Ears team about.. Some ideas were thrown around DICE about prizes for the player with the least damage to their construct. You know what that means, no uncontrolled descent through the atmosphere or crashing through the finish line. Considering the numbers I've seen thrown up from various organizations, potential winners have the chance to rake in several million quanta for top prizes. A bonus for a clean finish only sweetens the deal.
 
@Haunty has thrown their hat in the ring and will be representing Eyes & Ears in a surprise twist that I had forgotten to mention last week. While Eyes & Ears as an organization isn't seeking fame or fortune with this event, we do seek more community involvement through in-game events such as this, alongside my weekly updates here in this thread.
 
We wish him and all the other racers the best of luck and if you ever run out of fuel or scrap, you know who to call!
 
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Finally a few brief things might be added onto the website. I'll discuss those with the team and let you all know when we're ready to present the changes.
 
A slightly new logo might also be in the works! It's a minor addition to the current logo/banner but it's a change nonetheless. These will also be run by the team before presentation.
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Weekly Update - Sept 30th
 
No rescues were made this test so that allowed me to work more on ship design.
 
The small (core) craft that I mentioned previously, it will have a medium (core) mothership that also serves as a bulk fuel transport with over... 600L of fuel storage? I think it was 20 medium tanks and 2 large tanks apiece for both space and atmospheric fuel, so if you know the numbers, you do the math. I added some small fuel tanks because round numbers are nice.
 
This craft was originally devised in Alpha 1 testing as I was looking into future game play of larger ships needing resupply where three small tanks and half a medium simply wouldn't do. After the original concept was created and I realized I had a large empty upper deck that I didn't know what to do with, I decided to turn it into a storage space to launch and stow the smaller rescue craft mentioned in last weeks test. This of course increased the size considerably, but I feel like it will prove useful further down the line, especially in more crowded areas and cities. I'm also considering a second version of this craft which is simply the one deck for fuel and maybe a small living quarters.
 
After recoloring the entire craft with a base white, I took to more real life inspiration for my design. On the back left and right third of the local fire trucks I noticed upward diagonal patterns in a yellow/red banded color. With an easy, flat backside on my construct, it was a logical place to start. While I decided to invert with the bands converging downwards instead of upwards, I may change this in the future but for the sake of different yet familiar, I'm sticking with it. 
 
With this out of the way, I decided to do some work on the sides with a red trimmed Z stripe that is present on various emergency craft. Since we're dealing with space, it's an added spot for illumination and a glass covering. Prior to adding lights, I pondered just leaving a gap exposing the internally alternating space and atmospheric fuel tanks. The jury is still out on this as to which I like more so I'm open to community input.
Inspiration: 1 2 3
 
Given the width of the small rescue craft in the upper deck, the construct is divided into two separate decks; the upper being wider and slightly taller, while the lower is narrower from the front and lower. With the doors underneath the bridge, both aligned to the center, and the top being non applicable to design since it serves as the small constructs service entrance, the construct is broken up into eight zones. Stern, lower/upper port and starboard sides, left and right bow sections, and the 'neck' area between the bridge and upper decks hull.
 
With the rear and lower starboard (soon port) faces featuring designs, I'll be working more on the remaining faces and further working on the interior.
 
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The entire construct for the most part is very heavily in its initial design phase. From there I'll be working on creating enough fuel to fill all the tanks (donations always accepted!) so I know how much in the way of engines I need unless I actually decide to whip out a calculator and math the whole thing. Then from there will come the flight testing.
 
I'm not concerned at all about the smaller construct, if anything, I'm waiting on new elements...
... before I decide to make any serious changes to this particular construct as element size, engine power and other variables require.
 
While the larger construct is now taking priority, I already have an idea for a space only, large (core) fuel transporter that would work in low or zero gravity environments. With no need for atmospheric engines, I can stick more fuel on board. As this idea is still way off (probably late A2 early A3), I'll leave that for a future discussion.
 
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In the non-testing space, I'm hoping to have some meetings with the team this Saturday. In-game +/or over discord will be great. Of the four that have given me times, I'll be seeing two members around the same time, potentially a third if they're available. While two others will be entirely separate and most likely one on one discussions.
 
I have yet to throw out any formal agenda, but points of discussion will again be logo additions, and some additions to the website.
 
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this description of my activities this past test regarding Eyes & Ears. If you have any content suggestions, I'm always open to hearing them.
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Weekly Update - Oct 14th
 
4 rescues during one testing weekend. This is so far the most rescues we've made over any one testing phase which brings our Alpha 2 total up to 15 and our total rescues to 29.
 
This is also a somewhat special event seeing as we have now surpassed our number of rescues made during the Alpha 1 stage, 14. Congratulations to all members of our team who have taken part in helping people in the testing process. While our impact may be small, we sincerely hope it's meaningful. Now, lets get on with those rescues!
 
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Haunty started out Friday morning flying alongside @WhiteMEat in assisting them move two XS constructs from Teoma to Madis on a lengthy three hour journey. These constructs WhiteMEat described as "priceless" made the journey safe and sound to their destination which completed rescue 25.
 
@Annabella marked their first recorded rescue on Saturday when @Rabbyte overshot his destination, the planet Symeon. One fuel run later, rescue 26 was completed and you can view their feedback included further down the post.
 
Later that day and quietly beside myself, I got a call for help in general chat by @mghtyred after they had run out of fuel away from home. Fifteen minutes later they were on their way.
 
Finally on Sunday I had assisted @Phyzic who, after encountering a sudden problem six kilometers above ground, ejected and found themselves suddenly separated from everything they had created since they had started testing. There's a saying around the Dual Universe Discord, you can always tell who is new to the testing experience, with elements stacked on elements, Phyzic proved no different. Not being outfitted for hovering in low orbit, we had to return to Base Alpha at District 1 to refit for two vertical engines and stow some additional fuel. 
 
We flew up to where the construct was and while some might think that the hard part was done, not quite! The way the small rescue vessel is designed is so that a fuel bay door and a rear crew door automatically close once the construct detects no surface a short distance beneath it, think of it as a safety measure against jumpers...
 

 
Having not foreseen this ahead of time since previous times players have just rode on top, with no way to open up the doors from the cockpit unless I exited and performed some acrobatics which surely would send us both plummeting, we elected to land while I coded this oversight into oblivion.
 
With doors that now open from the cockpit, Phyzic was able to make a short leap to his construct and maneuver it safely to the ground which rounded out the test and our 29th rescue.
 
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Here's the feedback that was obtained over the course of this last test!
 
 
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Outside of rescues, much of this test was spent looking at code. With the assistance of a private individual, a few minor yet very useful improvements were made to the small rescue craft. The starboard side of the craft features dual screens which sport an animated GIF of the Eyes & Ears banner (thanks again @Geo!). To increase the sense of role-play, this banner can be toggled to an alert styled animation designed by @Spiridon with the press of a key-combo.
 
- Flashing lights warning -
 
 
A bit more work was required to transfer this from a single sign element to two split screens of comparable size, but I think the noticeable definition upgrade is worth it in the end.
 
Vertically positioned engines can be used to easily give constructs vertical take-off and landing capability as opposed to needing a long stretch of runway to takeoff and land, or enough brakes to stop on a dime. While very handy, they can act like driving a car with a missing gas cap and waste precious fuel which is not only expensive, but can cut down on critical operating range. With the help of the same individual, the status of VTOL engines are now displayed on the HUD! I'm hoping to have something similar to this show the state of gears, doors, and even flashing lights on the hulls exterior to give it more of that emergency response look. All of this will come in due time.
 
Speaking of the HUD, I scraped up some code off the DU Discord and after some tinkering, all my fuel gauges are off to one side, while everything else is off to the other side. Orderliness demands it!
 
I can't wait to see what other possibilities in Lua await us for the future. I've seen some of the things people are working on, both in person and through shared pictures and videos. It's all very much exciting.
 
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And finally wrapping things up, a group contacted me during the test about a potential future partnership. Things are still shifting around but I can't wait to see what they bring to the table. No details for now so keep an ear to the ground!
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Weekly Update - Oct 28th
 
This will be a relatively thin update compared to past updates. No new rescues were made and aside from resource extracting I didn't do anything worth discussing.
 
Most of this past test was done in preparation for this coming weeks test. The main spectacle as you all know will be the upcoming DICE race, scheduled for November 2nd. I wasn't able to complete as much as I had hoped to but I suppose it will have to do.
 
As far as the future is concerned, I've floated the idea for another team meeting at some point during the next test, both in-game and through Discord.
 
Our previous meeting we had on October fifth went well and I've already implemented some suggestions that were pushed forward by the team. Some of these changes will be previewed in our next agenda while a few new things will come up including: 
The upcoming DICE Race A preview of the changes to the logo that was pushed during the previous meeting A list of values held by our organization Ideas for a PDF to distribute to those we help and post publicly in the forums This is of course preliminary and will be expanded upon as the week progresses.
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Weekly Update - Nov 4th
 
Apologies for the delay in my usual weekly update. A combination of real life work and a poor mood on Monday and Tuesday respectively restrained me from my usual posting.
 
Four rescues during this testing period raises our Alpha 2 count up to 19 and our total rescues to 33.
 
Haunty carried out the first two rescues to kickoff Friday. The first being a fuel run to the new spaceman @Emyrs1701 who encountered a few problems on their way back from Teoma and ran out of fuel. A two hour journey into the black void was all it took before they were on their way back home.
 
With a fancy jetpack strapped to their back, players can effortlessly EVA around or in-between constructs, or just float off aimlessly into space as one @sadmandono accidentally did. Haunty was able to pick them up a few hours after their previous rescue and expedite a return to their craft. This concluded the days rescues 30 and 31.
 
A mishap on Sunday afternoon found myself picking up @Madrummer after they also got separated from their construct in space. With the position I found them in on Alioth in relation to their construct all the way on the other side of the planet, I took an easier half orbital route around Alioth and expended a minimal amount of fuel to fly the short 2 SU distance where a successful recovery was made to conclude rescue 32.
 
Finally, as the test was wrapping up on Monday morning, Annabella assisted a new player who got trapped in space (yes, this is possible) on a friends construct. After providing some more technical assistance, they were able to respawn back on Alioth, and so capped off rescue 33.
 
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On the second of this month, @Haunty claimed 6th place in a race hosted by the DICE organization in his construct named "Scrambulance" among . Congratulations for the great showing!
 
This race started and ended on Alioth, and featured a checkpoint where racers had to land in a designated zone to get a secret number before returning back to the finish line to claim their place in the rankings. Reading in a correct secret number would cement their position among the pack of twenty. An incorrect number on the other hand...  nobody knows. 
 
Three additional prizes were given out:
The best looking ship which was a Halloween themed human skull created by @helvetian.  
The best crash at the start / finish line was awarded to @Grimmethy.  
A random prize was given out to @Dhara.  
 
Congrats to everyone who was involved. The success of this event excites me greatly for the future.
 
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Aside from all this, I did put a small dent in my medium fuel transport after a bit of thoughtfulness. With some ingenuity I've been able to boost the fuel carrying capacity and even add on some storage room to boot. This particular construct, as mentioned in a previous post, has been sitting largely unfinished for months now, it's really about time I start working on it. 
 
Still batting around an idea for that large fuel transporter I was talking about a few posts ago. I can't wait to start working on it.
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Weekly Update - Oct 7th
 
With one rescue made over the course of this recent test, Eyes & Ears has secured its 25th rescue. 
 
Perhaps it was luck that more rescues didn't need to be made this weekend! Due to a bit of admittedly poor planning on my part, a meeting that was intended for the test prior was held over the course of this test where our members availability was more conducive to allow us all to meet at one place in-game and at the same time at our base in District 1.
 
Our agenda (link) which was initially focused on only a few topics that I expected to take no more than 15 minutes quickly expanded and ended up taking over an hour in-between questions and what I think was some productive discussion about various topics. I ended up getting some good, actionable feedback which I will be working on over the course of time as my empty time allows. I'm already bubbling with ideas and have even written some of the good ones down for future work.
 
Among some of the changes or additions you can expect:
A slightly modified look to our current logo and banner in favor of something a touch more recognizable with our real world counterparts. A few updates to our website: The 'About Us' page will see the introduction of a manifesto, charter, and a list of values held by Eyes & Ears. This may get an entirely separate page, I will be discussing things further with my team. Our Mission will be expanded upon. A PDF file which we will distribute to those who call upon us with best practices so they need not call us again, or at the very least, as frequently! Additional graphics in our Description tab on the community website More media created from with in Eyes & Ears @Spiridon has offered us his expertise Finally, after gathering input, our website itself will be undergoing some minor changes. With a focus on speed and responsiveness, I dialed back some features of my website like parallax images (archive) in favor of static ones like which you see in our current design. These features and more will be returning in a future iteration as all members that I had interviewed said that they were more than happy to wait a second or two longer (in my testing) for more design elements over the purely static website of today and will announce when these changes roll out.
 
Encouraged with this meeting, I'm already planning a second and already have a list of things I want to ask in my head.
 
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@Ardes refueled a dried up Novean with a quick spot of fuel on the far side of Alioth where civilization is perhaps more sparse.
 
With this Sunday rescue being the only interesting activity aside from the meeting, coding took up the greater bulk of the rest of testing. One of our members in collaboration with a partner cooked up some LUA that allows us to switch between two images at the press of a single button.
 
For Eyes & Ears this purpose is quite clear. It allows us to alternate our banner image between an emergency and non-emergency state. If only I could share this with you all! Flashing lights are next on the menu.
 
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Three new members were added in an unprecedented time frame over the course of the test!
 
A big welcome to:
@Annabella - Rescuer
@JackTricolor - Rescuer, Dispatch, Supplies Manager 
@maxamized - Rescuer, Pilot
 
JackTricolor receives a small bit of praise for having joined only a day prior to our meeting. By all accounts he stumbled into our meeting in voice chat even though he was not on our schedule and immediately started participating. I like this get-up-and-go so a round of applause for them.
 
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Always open to content suggestions as usual.
 
 
That's all for now, until next time, fly safe everyone!
 
- DarkHorizon

Dear Tacotuesday,
 
We interrupted the test sessions for two weeks because a big part of the team was "out of office" and it was communicated in a newsletter beforehand.
So as the service was temporarily interrupted and communicated to the backers, it was unlikely that there would be people in urgent need of support.
Now you asked on the forum during a Saturday why you hadn't have a reply yet by the Customer Support. You get an answer the following day, on a Sunday. 
As an indie studio, with our budget and infrastructure, we believe we are trying our best to keep our community informed and follow up any issue that could arise.
We agree that we could always improve and as the game will develop, the team will too.
Now you will have a reply from our customer support, even if it feels too long by your standards despite these circumstances.
 
Best Regards,
Nyzaltar.
 
 
 

To quote Teal'c    from Stargate SG-1 "Indeed" 
 

Yes - i do like your suggestions. For me these are key elements.
 
Generally for exploring, adventure and depth there should be different stuf from planets to shipwrecks or even ancient relics.
As well as those ressources that are hard to aquire in good quantities will create a interesting marketplace and jobs for players that are harvesting those.
 
And as you might have seen on the dev/sugesstion page - gas giants are allready in planning.
 
greetings x3

Not quite sure if it's implemented or planning to be implemented. After a very lengthy conversation with 1 or 2 discord moderators on "duscussion", I was suggested to come here and make my case. I hope the developers read and see this naturally, as it is intended for them. I understand you have a big game to make, a lot of issues and players to address but please hear me out.
 
From what I hear and see, I'm already beginning to love the idea of your game. All the little things matter, and can make all the difference in the world, especially when it comes to a game.
Now, judging by the title you probably already know what I'd like. Stealth. More of a focus on hiding assets on planets, territory units or hex claims whatever they may be from detection other then visually seeing them with the naked eye from a short distance. My intent is to use the games freedom (hopefully) to build underground, while using the cover of a subterranean base and operation to remain hidden from detection or being sighted by potential hostiles. Please make this possible. There should be an option to decide whether you want to broadcast your position or not to other players, I myself, someone who isn't too keen on joining a large faction would like to be able to remain invisible in such a large universe. For example, I don't want a player to be pinged the exact location of that 1 hex I have claimed on a giant planet the second they enter orbit. Please support the players that want to lone-wolf it. Please, this is one of the key steps in doing so. I want other players to have to work for it, make an extremely lengthy and detailed survey of the planet like real life in which would take months to years to find me and my base if they really wanted to. You have to take that into consideration, it's not overpowered and it's not unfair. It's just reality. There's going to be thousands of other players. Why does one or a small group of them hiding matter? Why limit that for them or anyone?? Knowing where everything is at anyone time is a silly thing to have be the case. This is a unique request I'm sure, I just don't want to see the enemy from a million miles away, nor them me. I feel that takes the fun of surprise attacks, stealth or hiding away. The concept of stealth I'm proposing can ALSO be used for space stations, secret asteroid bases in asteroid fields (if you intend on having asteroid fields) as well as naturally underground bases like I originally suggested. If players want to be found, then there let that be their choice. There should be "beacon" objects that ping a title and a symbol of what belongs to what that is fully customization to the players specifications, or perhaps a radio signal with a pre recorded audio voice. Who knows.
 
Thank you, and please reply.

remove Cloak   for in-game balance
make power armor  good for hostile planets like molten toxic ect
make all none combat jobs 3 times slower for balance
need power packs [like micro-fusion cells from fallout]
and give power armor night/thermal vision
power armor should be very expensive and have tires, and only carry 3 ability's 
so like .i want speed ,shields and radiation resistance

Gas Giants a large planet of relatively low density consisting predominantly of hydrogen and helium.
A brief and to the point suggestion to add gas-giants

PERKS
. gas filtering for resources
. hard to access bases and facility's  such as a prisons "ect"
. hiding spot if deep enough
. catch asteroids in there orbit 
. disposal of unwanted rivals
.scuttle ships 
.Hydrogen reactor fuel
CONS
. BIG 
. Hard to access
. Have to make a crush depth
.strong gravity
.ballast maintenance
.if you go outside without a suit you'll get pancaked 
.violent storms and winds
.if your base is damaged it could easily sink into the abyss
.very poor sight need a sonar if deep
.extreme temperatures
.electromagnetic  radiation
 
Im not one for paragraphs, i like bullets more so forgive the alien writing
 

this it’s not what should be in the game, just ideas for it .
 
planet classes and a brief description
Class D (planetoid or moon with little to no atmosphere)
Class H (generally uninhabitable, very dangerous and long-term habitation not recommend)
Class J (gas giant)
Class K (habitable,with special gear)
Class L (marginally habitable,may contain life)
Class M (terrestrial aka earth like)
Class N (sulfuric/toxic)
 
Temperature
Hadean/hot - Hot enough for molten rocks
Gaian/normal - Warm enough for "normal" liquids to stay liquid (i.e. water, gasoline, unsaturated fats)
Cryogenic/cold - Cold enough for substances such as methane to be liquid
Supercryogenic/very cold - Cold enough for liquid H2
 
Atmosphere/pressure
Vacuum - No or Little atmosphere
Marginal - Enough air to account for but not enough for unpressurized habitation
Suitable - Enough air to walk around without pressure suits (THIS DOES NOT GUARANTEE SAFETY FROM ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION)
Extreme - Too high for unpressurized habitation
 
planet size
Subsphereical/space rocks - Too small to form a sphere
Micro/moon - Large enough to be spherical, but too small for unaided human habitation without bone decay
Massive/earth-like - Large enough for long-term living
Supermassive/gas-giants - Mass too high for long -term habitation without issues, but low enough to not turn into a star
 
 
 
Earth like Class M (terrestrial aka earth like)
suitable atmosphere levels
normal temperature
and other earth like features
Average-environment
.suitable atmosphere levels
.normal temperature
.around 1 g of gravity
Environmental hazards
.fauna and flora
.rain
 
Molten  Class H (generally uninhabitable, very dangerous and long-term habitation not recommend)
a world of lava and ash
rich in basic resources but are extreme hazardous to gather
example mustafar
Average-environment
.Hot/Hadean
.lava lakes or underground pools
.usually little to no atmosphere
Environmental hazards
.Lava/lava pools/underground lava pools
.steam/lava vents
.Ash storms
 
Barren worlds Class K (habitable,with special gear)
a lifeless rock
just a barren rock with no notable features
Average-environment
.is a very wide calcification only 1 common trait
barren of any notable features
Environmental hazards
.getting lost
 
scorched Class K (habitable,with special gear)
sub class of barren worlds
a world with a scorched/radioactive surface
example solar apocalypse
Average-environment
.hot/radioactive surface
.little/marginal atmosphere
.looks like a general barren planet
.has lots of radioactive elements on the surface if radioactively scorched
Environmental hazards
.Hot/radioactive
.little or marginal atmosphere (can carry radiation making it even more radioactive)
.mistaking it for a barren and getting irradiated/overheated
 
Frozen All Classes that apply
a frozen planet covered is snow and or ice
example Hoth,Avalon
Average-environment
.cold/very-cold
.approximately 75% have a under surface ocean
Environmental hazards
.cold/very-cold
.falling into the under ocean
.blizzards
 
Toxic Class H (generally uninhabitable, very dangerous and long-term habitation not recommend) Class N (sulfuric/toxic)
a toxic planet that can be anything from mustard Gas to fluoroantimonic acid Ph -28
example did not find any send examples    
Average-environment
.very hazardous to human life
.rich in rarer elements
Environmental hazards
.acid atmosphere
.air is toxic and can contaminate your air supply
.chemical reactions
 
Cracked / Destroyed Class H (generally uninhabitable, very dangerous and long-term habitation not recommend) 
a world struck by a meteorite and cracked or shattered
large amounts of Hot rocks and Explosive pockets float in the rubble
average resources but are in dangerous and deep parts
example alderaan
Average-environment
.no longer a planet
.large debris fields around the area
.barren
Environmental hazards
.explosive gas pockets
.hot/molten rocks
.debris
 
Moon  All Classes that apply
can be any form of planet but are usually empty and lack atmosphere
example any planet but small and orbits another planet
Average-environment
.smaller than host planet
.orbits a planet
Environmental hazards
.depends on class
.size/gravity
 
Gas-Giants  Class J (gas giant)
a large ball of gas with no floor high gravity and crushing pressure
and blinding "fog"
and filter mining
examples  Jupiter
Average-environment
.large balls of gas
.no floor
.high gravity
.crushing pressure
Environmental hazards
.crushing pressure in the abyss
.high gravity
.no floor
.blinding fog

Ocean All Classes that apply
a planet full of liquid
example subnaticas world
Average-environment
.large amounts of liquid
.can have islands 
Environmental hazards
.depends on class
.pressure
.liquid composition
 
Due to planets not being uniform these characteristics may vary
.Size (so much so that classifying each with a general size is pointless)
.temperature 
.atmosphere
.liquid
.classes d h j k l m n
 
Not Legitimate planets below
large habitats that are titanic but not planets
 
Hive Worlds/city
a planet size city
example coruscant 
{not natural or random spawn .player made}
 
Massive Stations
a massive station that could be mistaken for a small moon
example death-star or a ring-world
{not natural or random spawn .player made}
 
 
some information from 0something0
this it’s not what should be in the game, just ideas for it .

Humans generally do not inhabit extreme environments. There are organisms referred to as extremophiles that do live in such conditions, or just crazy players
a "guide" to extreme environment planets

why we need hostile environments
.give variety to the player-base and allow for more adventure, technical thinking , ect
.new ore and mining for rare materials only on these planets  "cough" hazard pay "cough"
 
Planetary Hazards
 
Toxic  Class N (sulfuric)
. toxic from level 1 [the airs mustard-gas} to level 10 [ your capital ship starts to turn into a lake]
.has a ore such as uranium plutonium thorium or supernova shards aka really radioactive ore
.radioactive 
survival tip
.stay short duration 
.bring oxygen
.dont go un protected from radiation and or acid
 
ocean none hazardous Class M (terrestrial)
 
Gaia/Eden none hazardous Class M (terrestrial)
 
gas-giant Class J (gas giant)
.see gas giant post for more info
.high gravity
.crush depth
.blind if  inside
.super winds
.electromagnetic radiation
survival tip
.dont go deep
.bring ballast/balloons
.Dont even Try it, it is insane weather just stay at home
.bring a sonar and a crush suit
 
cracked /shattered Class H (generally uninhabitable)
.a world hit by an especially large asteroid or from other ways 
. basically a molten asteroid belt in a planet sized area
.lots of ores but lots of volatile explosive gas or something like that
survival tip
.dont bring big ships
.dont ram rocks
.dont dig without scanning thoroughly
 
molten Class D (planetoid or moon with little to no atmosphere)
.HOT "my poor boots"
.lots of common ore in abundance
.lava can rise   "probably to much for the server"
.good for ship forges/printing    "not typed yet"
.ash can block out the sky
survival tip
.Dont drink the lava
.stay uphill
.be very about heat and heat damage
 
moon Class # can be any form of planet type D,H,J,K,L,M,N
.usually no atmosphere
. can be any form of planet type usually barren
survival tip
.bring oxygen
.scan before descending
.moons are like a Gamble
 
Arctic Class K (habitable, as long as pressure domes are used) or Class D {no atmosphere}
.very Cold / cold
.rising snow "probably to much for the server" 
.can freeze machinery during a blizzard
. blizzards
survival tip
.heavy gear
.snow-shovels
.bring oxygen generator theirs plenty of ice
To survive the hazardous environments you need new gear  suits,vehicles and buildings built for the task
and knowledge on how the planet functions 
 
Space Hazards
.Nebula's a cloud of gas and dust in outer space
.Black holes {self explanatory}
.asteroids  {self explanatory}
 
Hazard Basic Info
 
radiation
.a simple counter that builds up till it kills the player
.radiation shielding is advised
 
cold
.a basic temperature system that counts down till the players death
.heavy clothing is advised
 
Heat
.a basic temperature system that counts up till the players death
.heat regulated clothing is advised
 
toxic
.a very unspecific hazard
.can range from anything from mustard-gas to fluoroantimonic acid Ph -28
.a sealed suit to protect from acid rain and poisonous gases is a necessary
 
Crush pressure/abyss
.the bowls of a gas giant with pressure so strong it can pancake you in an instant
.Crush Armor is required to survive in the upper abyss levels but not forever it will eventual kill you
.causes blindness and requires a sonar to see
 
Molten rocks and explosive pockets
.dont ram they will hurt you
.make sure you dont dig theme they will hurt you
they are abundant in cracked /shattered worlds
 
fell free to tell me if i forgot anything. i know theirs a few i missed