Knight-Sevy

I spoke with a little streamer again tonight who plays with a group of a few people.
At the beginning so motivated that they wanted to do everything by themselves, the projects progressed then the weariness of their group as planned.
Now that they have made their main base, their piece of industry, a few ships and their showroom. What's left for them to do?
Nothing the turn of the game was over for. They are leaving now ... DU is still losing players who have been hyped.
If you are not a LUA or voxel artist, boredom happens very quickly ...
We need that promised PvP, let us have a little fun. Give us areas to attack and defend with huge amounts of resources and we're doing massive things/impresive in this game.
PvP won't prevent huge city creation just for the LULZ or to show off its power / abundance of resources ...
The one and only have keep the player these are interplayer events which keep motivated the last meager troops remaining in the game.
It is starting to become urgent to act.
More control of players, end of markets managed by bots and PvP everywhere outside Madis / thades / alioth area.
Only a few months to act before losing the most loyal ones (the new ones only stay 2 or 3 weeks ...)

I spoke with a little streamer again tonight who plays with a group of a few people.
At the beginning so motivated that they wanted to do everything by themselves, the projects progressed then the weariness of their group as planned.
Now that they have made their main base, their piece of industry, a few ships and their showroom. What's left for them to do?
Nothing the turn of the game was over for. They are leaving now ... DU is still losing players who have been hyped.
If you are not a LUA or voxel artist, boredom happens very quickly ...
We need that promised PvP, let us have a little fun. Give us areas to attack and defend with huge amounts of resources and we're doing massive things/impresive in this game.
PvP won't prevent huge city creation just for the LULZ or to show off its power / abundance of resources ...
The one and only have keep the player these are interplayer events which keep motivated the last meager troops remaining in the game.
It is starting to become urgent to act.
More control of players, end of markets managed by bots and PvP everywhere outside Madis / thades / alioth area.
Only a few months to act before losing the most loyal ones (the new ones only stay 2 or 3 weeks ...)

Why not take the problem backwards, NQ does not take action because it does not seem necessary to them.
Let's all bring an L core ship that we will leave parked as close to the market as possible. (an M core for the less wealthy among us).
This should make things happen.
Personally I only use one market and it is not very crowded (and I don't have any lag / crash concerns).
But if this gets in my way, I will also come and park the most big ships in my possession so that everyone can enjoy them.

Now we know energy and what not is coming.  But that is only one step in an on going balance.  Right now L weapons can still hit the smallest shit in the game, so no need to ever use M weapons.  Also range is huge factor so L core also has that in spades too.
 
- Cross section needs to go further.  Reduce probability even more for ships with smaller cross section. 
 
- Probability of hit needs to be also tied to how much damage is applied.  So if my L railgun has a 60k volley dmg, and I have 50% probability, and I actually land a hit, I should NOT do 100% of my volley damage.  This could be RNG'd to any degree, but something along the lines of 20%-80% and some adjustments based on probs.  100% probability means 100% damage.  
 
- Rework/Reduce voxels HP and resists.  Not a complete "nerf" but definitely lowered in some areas.  Also mix and match some resist "holes" so choosing ammo types can matter, but make it in a way that not 1 or 2 voxels are OP.  Tonight on stream 3 Small core pvp ships went out to fight, on stream.  They shot eachother for 2 hours. No one died.  This is a game above all else.  THREE ships, shooting for hours, and NO ONE DIES is terrible game design.  Fix it.
 
- Remove XS guns from the game.  They are worthless, and will always be worthless.  In space anyway.  Make Small guns be able to be used on XS and S cores.  And with max skills you can get 3 S guns tied to 1 cockpit of certain guns to give those "fighters" a little boost for later gameplay.  Maybe stick to 2 rails and 2 missiles to a cockpit, but 3 for lasers and cannons to aide in their terrible range.
 
- Weapon HP.  Its completely out of whack.  L weapons base hp is around 174k.  M is around 6k or so.  Total garbage.  increase M to around 80k base.  Increase S hp to around 40k base. 
 
- Element Lives in PvP.  L weapons are devastating and should be treated as such.  Use RNG so that when an element is destroyed in pvp, it has a 20% chance of taking 2 lives away from the element instead of 1.  Keep M weapons to always take away 1 life.  Small weapons when they destroy an element have a 20% chance of taking 0 lives away (the element still goes red and needs repair, just no life was reduced off the element count).   This reasoning goes hand in hand with the surgical strike to make it a viable pirate option, and also not too over-powered in its ability to target elements on an enemy ship.
 
- Surgical strike.  Give a reason to sometimes use Small weapons.  Make them able to target actual Elements.  Make a drop-down menu in the gunner seat.  Voxels can also be an option to target.  Use some RNG, so how it would work, is if I choose "adjusters" then when I shoot, and the game attempts to calculate my hits, it will search for adjusters, if found, it has RNG of 50-80% chance to hit an adjuster (based on new talents to train) and the time it misses it picks random like currently is.  Since its the smallest weapon in the game, it wont be "over-powered" but a it now makes S cores a viable option if you bring say 8 to swarm a L capital, and that capital ship only has L weapons and no support.  This leads to more indepth approach at how to shoot/disable ships.  And options for pirates, but also its not over-powered cause the reduced damage and range of Small weapons.  It also makes sense because they are smaller and you need to get closer to your ship to attempt a more precise hit, as opposed to a L railgun shooting a massive round at a ship from almost 2 su away.  M and L weapons would be too "large" for surgical strike, as they leave too big of a damage radius to attempt it.  
 
 
PvP balancing should be ongoing, but as it stands now, L core and L guns are only viable, and no signs of it changing at all, or anytime soon.  If this is how it will be even 12 months from now, you will have a stale game because no one wants to play something where there is only "one way" to play or else you get rolled on.  By making these changes (or any similar) you now make M weapons the "go to" as they well should be.  As they have decent range and dmg, can apply that damage to larger and smaller ships more easily.  By doing this, you also give S a niche reason to be used (as opposed to never right now) and L weapons are more seen as WAR ships trying to do devastating damage, but also big L core capital ships would need some sort of "support" as smaller M cores and S cores could swarm and never get hit, forcing people to think about how they field ships and fleets, and adding more roles to a fleet to maximize their pvp "potential" whether that be pirates, or a war machine looking to annihilate their enemy. 

I don't see how a wipe would be a solution.
There will always be players who will have an advantage.

Beyond all other issues, I think DU can't afford wipe simply out of demographic reasons.
 
Currently there is probably just several thousands more or less active players. Many of them (who are not fanatical voxelmancers or other cultists) play/log in/hang around not because they enjoy current game-grind-play process that much, but exactly because it all persistant and will, potentialy, benefit them in "bright future".

To reliably muck up all this people with wipe, NQ need to be pretty darn sure they can get new (replacement) players by release in huge numbers. This is at best dodgy. So, NQ need by any means preserve viable population (I hope 0.23 thing was good warning for them) until better days. Another consideration, that with wipe NQ likely to lose not just any players, but vetarans of many years, who are still backbone of game existance as something meaningful. 
 

I dont get how people cant see this splitting the community. One of DUs good points is the voxel engine. Even with the limited creation tools we have now, people are still making impressive ships and structures. If all someone wants to do is build cool stuff, what reason is there to interact with the rest of the community? 
 
And this thread doesn't even cover the fact that they mentioned adding instances PvP arenas where you can fight without putting your ship on the line. Thats honestly an even bigger blunder in the single shard mission.

Clean the tubes, dust off your seats, and warm up your engines!

Your presence has been demanded by the powers that may be, to participate in the END OF THE WORLD, PVP BONANZA!

This is a call to EVERY NOVEAN with a weapon. Soon the update will arrive, the time to leave the womb is upon us!
Only the strongest Noveans will birth into a new age of Dual Universe, so sharpen your resolve and under Helios you shall Triumph or PERISH.

Before the update arrives, we shall battle under the sun on the 6th of December, 4PM EST.

This is a PUBLIC event! Open to anyone willing to send off with one last triumphant Hurrah!

Come one, come all, and witness the Greatness and fall of our Empires!

Event details.
Time: 4 PM EST
Date: 6th december
Location: in PVP space, few SU out of the Edge of the Alioth safezone, toward ION.

The original idea was to do this while JC's live AMA was on, however it will likely be on a weekday, so it's been decided that a Sunday will allow for greater participation.
The reason for this whole debacle is due to a rumoured update, that could come like a thief in the night at any time very soon and clip our wings due to a rumoured massive overhaul of DU's mechanics. So we shall pull everyone out for some fun and MASS PVP action while we can! 
 
It's very possible that the servers will break, but I'm certain 98% of DU's population haven't participated in a mass fleet battle, so this shall be an exciting experience for everyone to look forward to.

PLEASE NOTE:
Considering people may not wish to join the event, wanting to save their assets for the great update, Band of Outlaws will relinquish ANY ships that may be captured by Band of Outlaws in the event, thus alleviating any pains of loss, without taking away from the core experience of the event. 

Apologies for coming up with this event fairly close to its date, there is no announced date to the new update which could come as soon as early next week (Official notice is quite likely to be a few days at most). Looking forward to seeing everyone out in force, lets burn down the Amazon servers together! ?
 
 

All is said

When will we have something to fight for ?

Dock a ship with an on/off (via an element?)
This one will transfer all its weight as well as a deactivation of its core like a tokenise (to avoid some PvP abuses, or simply arming).
 
There can be several variants to balance depending on the ability to manage core dynamics.
 
Do you have other ideas to improve this system, without this concern of the Role play dimension but so that the game is a better handling of the docking?
 

Greetings Noveans,

This is your newest Community Manager, NQ-Naunet, reporting for duty! ?

It’s no secret to all of you that Dual Universe has undergone some changes in recent months; the launch of Beta, an increase in fan-made content appearing across our social channels (bye, bye NDA), and new NQ staff members popping up all over the community... just to name a few! Exciting things are on the horizon for all of us, and we couldn’t be happier about it.
 
The first big mission I propose we tackle together, should you choose to accept it, involves this space right here - the forums. In the interest of keeping things tidier, more useful and fun for everyone, we’ve been thinking about giving this place a bit of a makeover.
 
If that piques your interest, read on to see what we’ve got planned so far. We propose:
 
Cleaning up some older, less relevant pinned posts and limiting future pinned posts to ~5 per topic. Archiving older, pre-Beta material. Creating a dedicated Beta category! Adding an “Innovation Station” space for creators to show off what they’ve been building in-game. Changing the look and feel of the forums with a brand new theme. Implementing an “Organization of the Month” series to highlight some of the amazing things all of you are getting up to together.
What we’d like from you is your feedback, as it’s important to us that this place continues to be made for you, by you. Please let us know:
 
Which topics/threads you feel should be preserved! (Tutorials, lore, etc.) What sorts of categories you might like to see! Any theme/styling suggestions you may have. Anything else you think we should know about the forums/our proposal.
  I’m really looking forward to hearing your thoughts and getting to know all of you a little better. Together, I think we can whip this place into the best shape it’s ever been in! ?

~ NQ Naunet, over and out.
 

Isn't it funny how PvPers want automated mining.
 
I thought "Hardcore PvPers" liked permadeath.  
 
Now they can't even handle a few hours of digging or construction to get back into the fight.

Hi everyone, 
 
This discussion is going nowhere.
Everything has been already said on the topic and continuing would only lead to stir up conflict between those who think the situation is unfair and those who think it's normal to adapt.
 
To sum up one last time:
PC Gaming industry has a long history of replacing/upgrading components in very short cycles (4-5 years) due to technological breakthrough, to stay up-to-date. However it's true that during the recent years, there have been less technological breakthroughs on the CPU side, reducing the need of replacing CPU. While it's a comfortable situation on many levels, keep in mind that it's not the "normality" but the exception in the PC Gaming history. The technological stagnation (at least CPU-side) for so many years is a first. At some point, technological breakthroughs will force you to upgrade your PC if you want to play games that will use the most advanced technologies available (unlocking opportunities that weren't possible before). It has always been like that, and it will continue to be like that (even if it will be at a slower pace).
  It's true that AVX instructions requirement weren't specified during the Kickstarter campaign. It has been a miscommunication on our side as it was decided from the beginning to use them (these instructions help A LOT regarding performances in a full voxel-based environment) and we recognize that. That's why it's a legitimate reason to contact the Customer Support for a refund. However, we think it's a mistake to see the situation just as "I won't change my PC rig just for Dual Universe", because sooner or later, other games will ask you to have a more recent hardware. It's just a matter of time. If it's not AVX instructions, it could be something else.

There was no intention of deceiving or trapping backers here. The dev team genuinely thought that, by the time Dual Universe will be released, CPUs from 2012 or older will be replaced by gamers with more recent ones, especially as the team never marketed Dual Universe with low end specs (even during the Kickstarter). That being said, if you plan to keep an old CPU from before 2012  at least two more years, and don't plan to play DU because of that, that's totally your right and you should contact our Customer Support.
  Now the topic is going to be closed as the original question has been answered in detail, and repeating arguments again and again will add nothing constructive on the topic.
 
Best Regards,
Nyzaltar.

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Thanks for reading, see you in the next thread.
 
 

What you are seeing in that picture is called a "Condensation Trail" (or a "Contrail"). Those trails are formed by water vapor coming out of the Engine or changes in the air pressure. The Engine exhausts 2 things, both CO^2 and water vapor. It's not just the Engines that can form them, the Wingtip as well can form them. We call them Vortices.

 

For more information about "Condensation Trail" ("Contrail"), read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrail
 
That is the Chemtrail Conspiracy Theory people make ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory ).
Those coming out of the Engines are not mostly chemicals, those are mostly clouds. Those coming out of the Wingtip are all clouds.
 
There is no such thing as a "Chemtrail" (try googling it and it will all lead you to conspiracies).
 
How about this picture below? Like I said, the Engines both emit CO^2 and water vapor. What you see here is a feature of a Contrail. CO^2 doesn't leave a trail, the water vapor does. There is no such thing as a Chemtrail.
 
"Experts on atmospheric phenomena say that the characteristics attributed to chemtrails are simply features of contrails responding to diverse conditions in terms of sunlight, temperature, horizontal and vertical wind shear, and humidity levels present at the aircraft's altitude." (source: Wikipedia)

 
Also, Contrails can never form in space or non-athmo planets/moons. That's not possible.

Dear community members,
 
A few weeks ago, we took a stance regarding “out of the game”/IRL-related practices to discredit, threaten or shame publicly another Community Member (even if the involved person is guilty of several infractions) that could be an opponent in-game.
 
As the DSI (Dark Star Imperium) / TSU (Trinary Star Union)  / UEE (United Earth Empire) case blew out of proportion during January, we investigated.
 
We are really serious about differentiating real life from the game itself. Unfortunately some didn’t take our stance seriously. We gave them a chance to come clean in a private discussion and restart on an healthier basis. They didn’t take the opportunity for what it was: a last chance.
As they preferred “playing dumb” with Novaquark staff, we can’t have any trust that they won’t continue. Therefore we have decided to ban permanently those Community Members for various reasons (all not being banned for the same reason(s)):
Not being honest towards Novaquark staff. Making and encouraging ghost accounts. Abusive recruitment practices. Practising real life harassment and/or threatening another player. Making false report to Novaquark’s Customer Support in an attempt to make ban someone they dislike. Spreading real life information without the involved person’s consent, aka Doxxing.  
(strong reminder: even if a person gives you real life information about him/her, it’s not okay to share these information with ANYONE else without his/her consent. You can’t predict how the other person(s) will use this information and if he/she/they won’t share it again. If some trouble occurs following this sharing, you can be held legally responsible).
 
This might seem an extreme sanction but this shows how serious we are when we say we are not going to let toxic attitude and practices spread in the Community. Our goal to build a healthy and friendly community isn’t just a figure of speech. Anyone caught to spread or encourage any toxic behavior will be removed from the Community as it will be considered as damaging the Community and negating Novaquark staff efforts (without saying that it’s time consuming and a waste of our resources).
 
Saying it’s a long time grudge coming from before the arrival in the Dual Universe community is absolutely not a valid excuse. If someone has a personal grudge with another community member, he/she should either:
Leave it at the doorstep and/or settle it in private and peacefully with no one else involved. Contact directly (and only) Novaquark staff if the issue persists.
The moment someone uses the Dual Universe community as a tool for IRL revenge, he/she is not welcome anymore. We’re all here to have fun. It should always stay that way.
 
Therefore, the following Community Members have been permanently banned from the Community:
Lime / Fullsend / mmtheboss / Sakej99 [DSI] Primarch Zelevas / TharisUEE Melkor_Morgoth
  In addition the DSI Organization member list has been reset, and the Novaquark Team has appointed CN_Firestorm as the new owner of the Organization, should he accept to take a fresh start on a healthy basis.
 
We also give a warning to all those who were indirectly involved (with the evidence we found) but not actively participating in the recent community troubles. Next time, there won’t be any new warning. If you become involved against your will in some shady real life activities, you have only two healthy options:
Leaving the group doing such activity immediately. Report it to Novaquark staff.  
If you stay in such group without leaving or reporting it and the group is caught, you take the risk to get the same sanction as those actively involved.
This investigation has taken (or more precisely wasted) a lot of time from Novaquark staff. We really don’t like to intervene in players affairs. However, if there is a chance that such affairs damage the Community by toxic behavior, you can expect Novaquark staff to step in. We hope we won’t have to take the same measures again.
 
Best regards,
The Novaquark Team.
 

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

If you rob another player, you are a pirate.  There is nothing wrong with that playstyle, but do not claim to be something you are not.  A trading organization earns it money by trading, not stealing.