Bambino

Flipmaze
 
A Flipmaze playfield is a surface divided into eighty one squares, arranged in nine rows and nine columns.  On the ground between each square is a force field emitter, which can be activated to prevent movement between two adjacent squares.  This means each square (except those on the outer edge) is surrounded by four emitters.  The squares in the corners have two emitters and are open on the other two sides.  These serve as the entrances to the playfield.  The other squares on the outside have three emitters and a wall on the fourth side.
 
Each square is in either an open or a closed state.  If an emitter is between two closed squares or between one open and one closed square, it is activated.  If both squares are open, the emitter goes off and players can move between the squares.  Changing a square from either open to closed or from closed to open is called flipping it.
 
There are two teams of three players.  Two of the players on each team are mazerunners.  The mazerunners start at the corners and try to reach the square in the middle.  The third player is the flipper.  The flippers operate a control panel overlooking the playfield.  They push buttons to flip squares, to let their mazerunners reach the middle and to block the mazerunners on the other team.
 
The control panel has eighteen switches, one for each row and one for each column.  When the flipper hits a switch, it flips all of the squares in the corresponding row or column.  Note that it is the squares that flip, not the emitters.  If an emitter is between an open and a closed square and both flip, the emitter will remain activated.
 
The game starts with all of the squares closed.  As the flippers hit the switches, some of the squares will flip.  The mazerunners move through open squares, trying to reach the center square.  The center square contains a button.  The first team to push this button wins the game.
 
A nine by nine playfield seems like a good size, big enough to be interesting but not overwhelming.  However, when the game is actually played, we may find a different size is better.

In the time I've spent reading these forums, I see this topic come more than a handful of times on DAC's and DU's subscription system. It's something to be expected, a merchant goes "hey I got a nice product, pay me xyz dollars", then the consumer goes "how can I get this for the best value for my money?".
 
This is a quite normal thought process. I think of it every time when looking at goods and their prices and especially before I check out my products. We value our money because we put time and effort into earning it, and want to maximize our potential with it.
 
Our time on Earth is fairly limited. We'd much rather spend it doing the things we enjoy. Being among family and friends, playing a favorite game or watching a pleasurable TV show, producing something we know others will find value in, enjoying a good drink, or relaxing someplace nice.
 
Our money is also fairly limited. Bills and utilities need to be paid, food stocked in the fridge, insurance for the car, books for the college student, the oldest child needs to borrow $20, again... the list goes on.
 
The means with which we acquire said money is also relatively limited. Businesses are open certain hours, shifts are only so long, and our work is only so interesting before we must devote that remaining days time to the above mentioned.
 
Insert Dual Universe.
 
For those of you that are currently not in the Pre-Alpha tests, you've seen the videos (some more than once) and read the news, you're excited. Pre-Alpha testers are not only excited but are also able to experience this new game and bring some of their dreams to virtual life for others to enjoy.
 
Mind, blown... Everything seems awesome until you meet "subscription" and "Dual Access Coupons". Upon closer inspection, this is, indeed, a subscription-based game... oh no...
 
For those of us that have followed along for a while, we know that a subscription will fall somewhere around $10 to $13 a month, while DAC's will be a bit more expensive at $15 to $20 a month. Not a big deal right? For some, it isn't, but for others, it's a major hurdle. Maybe you've been a free2play player all your life and can't imagine the thought of paying, or perhaps you simply can't afford it.
 
Well friends, hurdles are made for jumping over, sometimes three at a time. and jump we will...
 
If you can't afford a months subscription time, let's dig into this thing called 'our life' and examine what we can do to afford a months worth of game time. 
 
If you don't have time to read, I'll cut this all down to a paragraph for you at the very bottom of this post! 
 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
First off, what is the difference between a subscription and a Dual Access Coupon? What even are they, to begin with?
 
Have you ever been to a fair? For those who haven't, the rides are fun, and the food is more than questionable. From sugar overload to dipped in oil to stuff you've never seen before and never will again...
 
How do you get access to that fair though? You can do two things:
 
Buy an all-day wristband at the gate. Unlimited rides from now until closing time. One person only, or... Buy tickets. The ferris wheel is one ticket, bumper cars are two, etc. You can split it among friends.  
You go for the wristband and wander in. At the fair, there are those booths filled with games that are statistically near improbable to win but among the prizes, you notice that there are tickets, with a grand prize being a roll of 1000 tickets. With some time, you luck out and score that 1000 ticket roll but you have an all-day pass, what do you do with it?
 
You sell it to the kids that need more tickets and make back what you paid for on your all-day pass.
 
Short analogy, lets work with it...
 
All new accounts will start with a free trial. Think of this as being outside the fair, yet still able to see all the rides that are inside. You can enter the game environment and get an idea of what you can do inside of it, but there are limits like skill restrictions, construct sizes and the number of elements that can be placed for example. You can see the rides, you just can't ride them.
 
In Dual Universe, let's say that this all day wristband is the subscription that you buy from the gatekeeper, NovaQuark. It's yours and can not be taken from you in-game. You get thirty days to play, after which your subscription will end and you can either pay for another month or end up unable to play.
 
Dual Access Coupons are like the tickets. You can also get them from NovaQuark and spend them in the game environment however you like. Be it hiring out another players services, using it to fund your own time, or you could give it to a friend. If you put in your own services into the in-game environment, you can get paid in DAC's as well. Since DAC's are not as secure as a subscription and present as an item in the game, you also run the risk of having them taken from you with force by another player.
 
You can buy a subscription, pay for the game, and be perfectly fine. You can also buy Dual Access Coupons or earn them inside the game to also pay for your game. Both achieve the same goal, but what's the difference?
 
A subscription is purchased from NovaQuark and tied to you, it can't be taken in-game, and it can't be sold in-game. A Dual Access Coupon can also be purchased from NovaQuark, unlike with a subscription, however, it is only associated with you. What this means is that the DAC can be stolen from you in the game since it is an in-game item. It can be purchased in-game from another player, and likewise sold as well.  
Now that we've defined what a subscription and DAC is, as well as the differences between them, let's go about discussing how we can pay for our game time.
 
Since DAC's are more versatile, in-game items, I will be referencing them in the place of subscriptions. Be sure to also keep in mind that DAC's are a few dollars more expensive than a subscription.
 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
Let's assume for simplicity sake that a single DAC is $15 and expand it over a years time.
$15 x 12 = $180
 
Starbucks ---
Caffe Latte  -  Tall (Small)  -  $2.95
$3 x 5 days = $15
15 x 4 weeks = $60/month --- Not including saved gas money
or
1/3rd of a year's DACs
 
Now that you lasted a month, maybe you want to cut Starbucks out of your life entirely?
 
$60/month x 12 months = $720
720/180 = ...
4 years of DAC's
 
Dropping your coffee habit alone could pay for a year of time playing Dual Universe, AND that of three friends! 
 
Xbox Live ---
12mo = $60 or 1mo x 12 = $120
or
1/3rd to 2/3rds of a years DACs
 
No job ---
If you don't want to give up your console gaming and aren't old enough to hold a job, go shovel snow, rake yards, mow lawns, wash cars, trim bushes etc. $60 is a good weekends worth of work, it's also good exercise too!
 
Additionally, if you're still a kid and you get an allowance from your parents, you are now on my hit-list because I never got one and I'm super duper jealous of those that do. You can put that towards your subscription.
 
If you get paid for doing chores around the house, you are also on my hit-list because I never got paid for doing chores, insanity I say! A roof over my head, food in my stomach, and clothes on my back were payment enough. 
 
Now, if you can hold a job...
 
Yes job ---
How long would you have to work to fund a year's worth of gameplay? Not as much as you might think...
 
Not including tips or lunch breaks ---
180 / 7.25 (US federal minimum wage) = ~25 working hours or just over three days at eight hours/day
180 / 10 = 18 working hours or a little over two days
180 / 15 (some state-mandated minimum wages) = 12 working hours, a day and a half's work, or for some, an all-day shift 
 
Phone plan ---
If you have a phone payment plan through a major wireless carrier, you are messing up, hardcore! Consider looking at a non-major wireless carrier and you could save big.
Verizon: 4 lines - Unlimited talk, text, data, high quality streaming for $160/mo = $1920/yr
*MintSim: 1 line - Unlimited talk, text 10G high-speed data (per mo) then unlimited throttled - $25/mo (if purchasing 1yr bulk package = $300/yr) x 4 lines = $100/mo = $1200/yr
4 lines on MintSim over 4 lines on Verizion makes for a savings of $720/year
4 years of DACs
 
*This is strictly for comparative purposes, I do advocate nor am I paid to on behalf of MintSim, this is strictly for comparison reasons, please don't hurt me.
**MintSim runs on the T-Mobile network so you may or may not have coverage in your area.
 
Cable TV ---
I can only compare this to myself so bear with me.
 
Basic Cable = 20 channels = $20/mo
12mo = $300/yr
TV antenna + coax cable = 9 channels + 6 sub-channels
$40 - one time cost until something breaks
 
Money saved on TV each month could easily pay for your DACs if you're on a limited TV plan or live in a metro area with lots of TV antennas.
 
If you're interested in this, the US FCC has a barebones guide on antennas in your area with only a zip code needed. Of course, this all depends on your immediate controllable environment like the antenna location+height vs trees, other buildings, and things more or less out of your control like a mountain between you and the antennas or living down in a valley, even the weather can be against you. Renters might want to check their building codes when mounting an antenna on the roof or on a mast.
 
College Books ---
If you're buying them outright (from your college bookstore) and not renting them (also bookstore) that's also another issue... Get them, and rent them online, the savings can be massive!
 
Abnormal Psychology 8thEd - Oltmanns and Emery
College bookstore: $278
Amazon: $247 (purchased, new)
Amazon: $35 (rented)
Amazon: $10 (purchased, new, international edition)
 
Savings of $268 off one book for one semester 
17.5 months of DAC 
 
Bigwords is personally recommended for their comparison services.
 
Transportation to and from college ---
Let say you live in a modest town of and college is all the way across town so you drive five miles like I would have to do every weekday, then five miles back home.
Your car gets 30mi/gal on an 8gal tank. 240 miles per tank.
Gas = $2.55 for the state of North Dakota
One tank = $20.40
Your car can make 22 round-trips + 1 for stop/go + 1 for gas if it's strictly for this use. 
 
Most colleges will offer students a free or discounted pass on public transportation. Let's say that isn't offered and you're stuck paying regular fares. My local bus service charges $1.50/ride for an adult without a student ID, and rides are free with their ID. In this case:
$1.50 x 2 rides/day x 22 round-trips = $66
One tank = $22.40
 
In this case, driving yourself is more economical than riding the bus.  A trip to campus from home for me is 30 minutes so I spend an hour on transportation each day. So considering my student pass makes transportation free, it becomes a value question? What do you value more, your time, or your money?
 
Don't forget that a vehicle needs to be insured so that costs additional money and there are so many variables I won't even bother spelling it out but it is worth remembering.
 
Savings of $43.60 if you drive as opposed to riding the bus
2.75 months of DACs
 
$66 not spent if you can ride for free
4 months of DACs
 
 
Mobile Options ---
Yes, you can use your phone to make money.
 
Some will pay you for installing and trying out various apps. Maybe you have to install it and have a look around, or perhaps you have to achieve a particular objective or rise up to a specific level?
 
Others will pay you to view ads. I'm only familiar with ones that show lock screen ads which only take a fraction of a second to slide away, but there might be other options available too.
 
If you have an Android (not sure about iPhones) and haven't heard, Google Opinion Rewards is a great place to start. The only catch is that you can only spend your credit in the Google Play store.
 
 
Digital Currency Mining ---
I have absolutely no experience in this so forgive me if this is short.
 
By now I'm pretty sure that everyone and their mum have heard of the Bitcoin. If you haven't, what kind of rock have you been living under and can I get one too?
 
Aside from the Bitcoin, there are various other coins out there that hold "value" and are obtained through a process of "mining". Mining involves crunching numbers and verifying the results. This can be a slow process although it can be sped up with more powerful hardware that if bought for the sole purpose of mining, brings the process of Return on Investment (RoI) into play.
 
For individuals, this could be a zero-sum game.
 
While Bitcoin has increased in value over the years, so has the difficulty in mining. Basically, where you could score say once every hour a couple years ago, you'd be lucky today to do so every week, month, quarter, I really don't know. Additionally, more people are mining the currency so that ups the factor now that the Bitcoin pie is being split among more people.
 
Aside from paying off your RoI which could take months, there is also the cost of electricity you need to consider. Sure you could be mining coins, but that money might just be going to your electric company in exchange for the additional power you are consuming from running your equipment 24/7. Not to mention any applicable wear and tear associated with the constant use or pushing your components beyond safe limits.
 
Lets also not forget to talk about the climate that's around you. Since your components need to be kept cool in order for them to work, if you can pull in cool air and exhaust out hot air, you'll be peachy. If you're pulling in already warm air, however, your cooling setup will need to work a lot harder to keep your components from overheating which again you'll also need to consider your electric prices.
 
Did I also mention that you are competing against warehouses of GPU's and CPUs (that sometimes catch fire)?
 
It should also not need mentioning that digital currency is extremely volatile. Indeed, something that might be worth $20,000 one day, might easily be half that the next.
 
 
Above all, digital currency is a gamble, not an investment.
 
That said, there are various digital currencies that can be mined through CPU's and GPU's, although I recently (3/27) just heard about a new currency, Burstcoin, that can be mined using your digital storage devices. If you're so inclined, it might be something worth looking into.
 
 
Work in-game ---
If none of the above is an option and you have a good deal of spare time on your hands, do some work in the in-game economy. Let me explain how this works:
 
There are often two types of people: Those who have a lot of money but not much time, and those who have a lot of time but not much money.
 
Someone will buy a handful of DAC's and exchange them for Quanta, you put in some work and after being paid for your work, you can then use that Quanta to turn around purchase your DAC's in the game environment and be set for another 30 days.
 
Mine, refine, haul, build, design.
 
The only limit to the possibilities is you.
 
 
Not enough in-game time, no outside money ---
 
What kind of pickle are we in here? A big, juicy, fat one. Let it be known on the record, I hate pickles...
 
You have plenty of online and mobile options to choose from but be wary, these can be fairly hit-and-miss. From having a minimum required balance to withdraw to not being able to withdraw in your desired method, these are only the start of your issues.
 
"Get Paid To..." websites are exactly what they sound like. You'll be paid for various things like giving your opinion on surveys, watching videos, and completing tasks. The greatest source of income can be had through purchasing sample packs or getting an item for a discount on the basis that you get a few extra dollars in return (spend 5, get 7).
 
Depending on the website and activity you choose, however, you could be fraught with risks. Are you comfortable with giving your demographics to surveys so they can confirm or deny your participation based on their desire to hear from a subset of people (male, 30s, part-time job, birthday, college educated, married, etc), do you trust your credit card details online in exchange for sample products? 
 
A couple of other risks entail spam. Although I had received very little spam in my email inbox prior, that certainly ticked up after I started earning through this method. I haven't received any physical spam in the mailbox, but it's been years since I used this service so things may have changed.
 
Additionally, if you truly value your time, this might not be the best option. While doing surveys, I can not tell you how many times I was booted at the very end because the survey reached their participation goal, my demographics were undesirable, or a question I answered had screened me out. Having spent, in some cases 30 minutes, it is very rage inducing. The fact that you may not even get a few cents in compensation for your time that is now wasted is one major reason why I would not endorse this, although being a teenager with no income, I muscled through.
 
I could go at this activity all day and sometimes not even break a dollar, although, on a good day when I was blessed by the gods, $10 was mine for the taking. Of course, if you have a job then you'll be guaranteed payment for your time, whereas here, you obviously have no such thing which is one of the reasons why you won't find me doing this.
 
All that said, I consider myself a personal success story, having earned almost $600 in the time I spent doing this which I think is no small feat, although there are some who have gone on to earn thousands (yes, plural) over an extended period of time.
https://snag.gy/tbLmMC.jpg 
 
If you recognize this website, please do not speak of it by name. I broke away after they implemented their 3-month timeout mechanism that locks your earnings which I wholly protest, so I can not, and will not endorse them. Yes, this is one such feature you might have to put up with...
 
I won't promote any single site by name but if you google around, finding one should not be an issue.
 
With all this in mind, this really is a last-ditch effort which is why I have moved this to the bottom of the stack.
 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
Now, this is all strictly an example, it obviously won't fit everyone.
 
There are so many things you can either do without or adjust your spending on when it comes to saving money that it really is a no-brainer when it comes to paying for your game time. Sure when you look at $120 to $180, it can be a big number all by itself, but when you do a bunch of small things over the course of time, it really starts to add up. Hey, isn't that a saying somewhere? 
 
Why do I bring this up when $10 isn't a big deal like I said in the intro? Because it is a big deal.
 
Again, little savings do add up over time when compared to societies current habit of spend spend spend, swipe swipe swipe. 
 
Do you really need to go out for dinner every other night at the corner restaurant when a homemade meal can cost a fraction of that and still take just as much time to prepare as it would driving to the restaurant and waiting?
 
Do you really need that thousand dollar iPhone when your current model is just fine? Need more storage, buy an SD card or use the cloud. Need more battery life, buy a power pack. Need a faster phone, drop Apple and take a bite out of a $480 OnePlus5, it's got six gigs of ram and SD 435 for its CPU. Yeah, that's right, it's an android. Bite me you expensive fruit, cheap candy is the way to go! 
 
Yeah, it's nice to splurge those savings on something once in a while when you feel like you deserve it, case-in-point, I'm a ruby founder.
 
Also, pay with cash over using a credit card, it's an easy way to visualize how much you're actually spending in between paychecks.
 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
In closing, yes, you can afford a DAC, you can afford tons of them, you just don't know how to do so. Luckily now you do.
 
These few examples are just ones I pulled off the top of my head that I have either seen or experience in my personal life, I'm sure folks can come up with so much more to add here so I'll just leave it at that to get you started! 
 
Please suggest something and I'll add it to this post!
 
Hope this helped!  
 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
If you skipped all the way to the bottom and didn't bother to read everything I laboriously took the time to write, here's what you can do to afford your Dual Universe subscription.
 
Cut out Starbucks, stop playing on Xbox Live, mow lawns, wash cars, shovel driveways, re-evaluate your phone and cable TV plans, rent your college books online, consider using public transportation to and from college if your pass makes it free to do so, do some in-game work, or consider looking for ways to make money doing things online.

"Indeed it is. I prefer to create my own reality in what little ways I can. Although, there's always a new challenge presented by people who couldn't care less about others. That's reality, I guess: a constant struggle to perfect what you can."

"
I hope this doesn't become a friendlier version of SAO...With VR support, some people might just stop living their real lives...Hence the question: "what is reality?"
 
"

(Posted Friday 31th of March 2017 on the DevBlog)   
  Hi everyone!  
Today we are going to talk about the organizations in a more detailed way!
 
As usual, keep in mind this is how the organizations are planned to be implemented for the official release of Dual Universe, not for the Alpha. As it is still work in progress, some mechanics might change based on community feedback and/or for technical reasons.  
For the Alpha (currently planned for September), we will most likely have a basic version similar to what we currently have on the Community Portal*. Veteran MMORPG players will undoubtedly be familiar with the basic concepts of guilds and clans from other games so some of this information might feel like a review to you. However, we wanted to give a complete overview of Organizations so that even players new to Massively Multiplayer games would understand what Organizations are, the benefits of joining one, and why you might choose to create one. If you have friends who like building games but haven’t ventured into MMORPGs yet, then they might be interested in this Blog post.  
(*we are talking here of the current version on the Community Portal + an update scheduled to add a Super-Legate rank and many changes for Members and Legates rights)
 
 
What exactly is an Organization in Dual Universe?  
It’s a Moral Entity able to:
- accumulate “Quanta” (the in-game currency)
- own Assets (Items and Constructs)
- gather Player Characters under the same flag for a common goal.
- create a hierarchy, with ranks and roles for all Player Characters gathered in it.
- be a member of another Organization, just like a Player Character.
 
 
What are the purpose and benefits of an Organization?  
- It enables players to accomplish greater goals than what a player could do alone: 
The ability to pool resources and in-game currency will help a lot.
 
- It consolidates the continuity of a long-term project:
Players can enter and leave an organization without heavily impacting long-term projects supported by the group.
 
- It gives a political dimension to the game:
Rights & Duties can be transferred from one Player to another, and Powers are decided by the Legates through a vote (if the Organization is a democratic one).
 
- It legitimizes conflicts between several group of Players: This will enable members of different Organizations to fight between themselves and kill each other, without being the target of reprisal mechanics (like bounty hunting) if a war has been declared between the said Organizations.
 
 
RDMS (Rights & Duties Management System) in an Organization:  
- Different actions can be done on each Asset: each possible action is defined as a Power.
- Access to a Power on an Asset is given by a Tag.
- Each Power has a list of Tags associated to it.
- Each Player Character has a “wallet” of Tags.
 
Here is a quick example illustrating the system:  
 
 
 
Here we have an Asset having 3 Powers: Use, Sell and Edit. The Organization is composed of 3 Player Characters: Alice, Bob and Warren.
 
In this situation:
- Only Bob can edit the Asset.
- Only Warren can sell the Asset.
- All three can use the Asset:
 
1) Alice can use the Asset through the Tag “alice”
2) Bob can use the Asset through the Tag “bob” and “squad1”
3) Warren can use the Asset through the Tag “squad2”
 
But that’s not all: you will be able to create more complex administration rights by creating a hierarchy between Tags!  
 
 
 
Let’s say “stock_management” is the parent Tag of “ammo_management” and “raw_materials_management”. If a player has the Tag “stock_management” in his wallet of Tags, he will be able to use or manage any of the Organization’s Assets having the Tag “ammo_management” or “raw_materials_management” depending on which powers are associated with those tags.  
 
The Rights and Duties Management System is also used to create the Functions. A Function will contain various Tags defining an assignment. Let’s say that Warren gets the Function “President” in the Organization “MyOrg”. Now his Tag Wallet in “MyOrg” looks like as follow:  
 
 
 
 
As the President, Warren will have the ability to declare war to another Organization. A Treasurer will manage the Organization bank account , a Gunman will be able to use some (or even all) weapons and military Elements to defend the Organization, etc. Of course, we will provide standard, ready-to-use Functions such as President, Treasurer, Miner, Industrialist, Gunman, and Military Officer to save time and allow players to quickly get their Organization operational.  
 
Acting in your name or in the name of an Organization:  
A Player Character can be a member of several Organizations.
 
Therefore knowing whether they are acting on their own behalf or on behalf of an Organization (and which one) is very important. We call “Role” the state where a Player Character represents an Organisation (or just himself). By default, a Player Character has at least the Role where he can represent himself. Under each role, the Player Character has a Tag Wallet. When a Player Character is accepted into an Organization, the Player Character automatically gets an additional Role where he can represent the Organization. While under the Role representing the Organization, all the actions can affect the Organization. For example:  
- Receive Quanta on behalf of the Organization: Quanta are transferred to the Organization - Craft an Element: the Element is owned by the Organization (not the Player) as a result.
- Harvesting resources: The resources are owned by the Organization (not the Player) as a result.
 
Example: After declaring a war that displeased most of the members in “MyOrg” (which has a democratic system), Warren has been demoted from his function of President and kicked out (Warren, what have you done? You should have consulted your guildmates before doing that!). He has now joined a new organization, “Corpo1”, as a miner and has just discovered he can act in the name of “Corpo1” or act just for himself. In the windows where he could choose his active Role for the time being, it will look a bit like this:
 
 
 
 
However, keep in mind this is a simplified view of the Tags: as it will probably become quite common to have the same name for a Tag in different Organizations, the Tags will be “scoped” to avoid conflicts. Let’s say Warren is accepted again in “MyOrg” and gets the Tag “miner”, just like in “Corpo1”. To avoid conflicts, the Tags will be scoped as follow:  
 
 
 
Political Action (Vote) in an Organization:  
Only Legates will be able to vote.
 
Votes could be used for administrative decisions like:
- Accepting a new Member in the Organization
- Excluding a Member from the Organization.
- Giving a Function to a Member
- Changing of the Vote rules
 
Of course, the list of administrative decisions above is far from exhaustive. A Legate can also give his/her ability to vote to a representative (another Legate)
 
 
 
 
Above, the Organization “MyOrg” has 5 Legates: Kim, Bob, Alice, John, Steve. John and Steve give their right to vote to Alice. Alice now counts as 3 votes. However, she will be absent for the next vote so she delegates her right to vote to Kim. Bob also gives his right to vote to Kim as he trusts her completely. In the end Kim will have all the votes so she will be able to make important decisions for the Organization without involving the other Legates. Big responsibility for Kim!  
We hope this has given you a better grasp of how an Organization will work in Dual Universe. Not all related game mechanics have been explained as it’s still currently in development, so there will be probably a second part later. As always we can’t wait to read your feedback of what we’ve discussed so far!
 
 
The Novaquark team  

Issue 2 is out now!
 

(pdf, 2 mb)
 
Contents: War on the Battlefield & War in the Arena, Non-English-speaking communities

The Novean Almanac is a fan magazine about Dual Universe and the Dual Universe community.
There have been three issues in 2018 (as the Novean Dreamers Almanac) and then a long hiatus.
 
But finally...
 
Novean Almanac 4
Editorial: Making history in Dual Universe Dual Universe Development Timeline Community Media Overview Organization Updates Community Projects Overview and a shorty story by Kurock  
PDF, 168 pages, 4.4MB
 

 
Old stuff from 2018:
 
Hello there.
 
This is a magazine about the Dual Universe community.
You should read it, like all the cool kids.
 

(pdf, 2 mb)
 
Contents of issue 1: Cities, the Press and intergovernmental organizations
 

(pdf, 2 mb)
 
Contents of issue 2: War on the Battlefield & War in the Arena, Non-English-speaking communities
 

(pdf, 2 mb)
 
Contents of issue 3: Espionage and Counter-Intelligence, the Service Industry, and a stupid map
 
Website: Spaceship Drama
Discord (Agilolfing#8694)
Twitter

If that be so my GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GRAND CHILD will mine those crystal vein that for me 

Neat idea for a thread!
 
While I won't go into listing a massive amount of job titles, I do think this economy will create something more real than we've ever seen before. With that being said, job titles of all kinds will come to surface. Everything from civilian, professional and military based roles and perhaps even religious? 
 
I come from a heavy role-play organization and we see this game as the first in our history of playing games that has been made to cater to all types of players, including role-players. The  reason I bring up role-play is because that's essentially what we're all doing when we assume this artificial role in-game, and those titles will vary with what role we take on. 
 
In regards to wages, I think it's much too early to determine that. That will completely depend on the actual supply of quanta, along with how easy it is for a player to profit, either alone or in an organization. But wages in my opinion will be a thing most organizations take up. Depending on the job of course, and more importantly, it will depend on the tools NQ gives us as organizations to pool and collect money from our markets, trade routes, and citizens. The latest market video was great, it's basic with a hint of genius and it will provide an excellent way for organizations to collect money. 
 
What I'd like to see is a sort of organization bank (maybe something people have to build similar to a market that can be robbed by invading factions) where money is pooled outside the direct wallet of the leaders. It could function with an automatic payment system of some sort that could be set up via a UI and payments can be made singular or periodic. I suggest this system because I've gotten the impression that quanta will not be a item that is dropped, but merely a number in your inventory. This could help organizations efficiently manage payments to players, and proper separation of organization funds from personal funds. 
 
Finally, on your last point I think it's great that dual has incorporated the LUA script feature. It adds a rarity to the ability to create cool constructs and will generate a niche market for advanced ships. 
 
Sorry if I was a bit off topic, just wanted to throw my two cents in!

- Officer (To fight the baddies)
- Ship builder/designer (If someone       doesn't want to build or needs help)
- Miner (Gathers materials)
- Hunter/ Farmer (If they decide to add hunger)
- Boss (Company, city, space station exc)
- Builder (Basically a construction worker)
- Architect (This can be a cool one)
 
Those are all my ideas for now...

I agree, that should end up being the case. People will end up sticking to what they know best and using the services of other skilled players to progress in the meantime.
 
For a diverse society & economy with heirarchy systems that make sense (and a way more fun/submerged experience) a hundred with a few talents each is a lot more promising than a few with a hundred talents. That's what I'm excited about, the singular importance of each and every player (or groups of individuals contributing) in one universe. 
 
To be honest, I have been working on something for a while, just playing around with the concept for now.
Don't want to release it to the public until I've determined whether or not it's worth releasing & it's in final stages.
 
Until I'm there, I just want to get an idea of what people are excited about doing to move forward financially & drive the in-game economy.

*inhaaaaaaales* Yes! \o/
 
I know this isn't a Q&A, but now after I read I got a few things I'd like to bring up.
 
First off, thank you for allowing v-boosters to be allowed for use in space. Having to use vertical space engines was really unpredictable due to that rev up time.
 
As far as wings are concerned, I know we already have the small elemental types, but would we be able to create our own wings out of voxels to create the same effect? Currently, my shuttle (my baby that I've had since the second or third test ;_; ) with my name emblazoned in light elements for a touch of irony has wings but those are of course, nonfunctional and purely decorative.
 
Will we also be seeing larger wing elements in the future? Perhaps ones with functional ailerons?
 
I'm no expert but I can deduce that energy put in would equal energy put out. Why would engines use more fuel when going slower rather than faster? I understand that it would take more fuel to get something moving from a dead stop, but once something is cruising at whatever its lowest throttle set point I feel as if the force put out should equal the force going in. If they're specifically meant for going at high speed (as specified), would there possiably be a future engine for use at slow speed with better fuel consumption?
 
"helicopter-like dynamics", I'm assuming you mean the ability to hover in place?
 
I'm quite excited for the damage model changes, bumpers (bumper hover cars anyone), and landing gear being used for shock absorption.
 
If I'm not mistaken, isn't there supposed to be a second dev-diary as well?

Every single time I read that post, it just makes me fall on the ground having a nerdgasm.
It always leaves me feeling good for a few days XD.

(Posted Friday 18th of September 2015 on the DevBlog)     Big news! We just finished designing and implementing one of the most critical and distinguishing feature of Dual: the capability to script any construct that you make. A construct is anything that you build in the game, it can be a ship, a building, a space station, or whatever. It is a physical object, it can move, collide with stuff and potentially include hundreds of "Elements", which are operational units that you can craft or buy, and freely position inside your construct to add functionalities to it. Examples of Elements are: propulsion engines, control units (computers), doors, weapons, batteries, containers, accelerometers, radars, targeters, drone bay, elevator, and many more. The way the construct orchestrates all these Elements is through scripts, and what we call "Distributed Processing Units". Let's dive into it, and see what it can do.   Warning: The following Blog Post implies you already have some basic programming knowledge. If you don't, some parts may seem a bit obscure or difficult to understand.   This is going to be a slightly more technical and longer post than usual, but I hope people interested in the topic will find it entertaining. In any case, remember an important point: you don't need to understand anything about scripting or ship building to actually buy a ship and fly it. You actually don't even need to use a ship at all if you don't want, there are plenty of activities to do besides this in the game. It's a bit like in real life: you don't need to be a mechanics to drive a car, and some people just never drive anyway, they take a taxi. It all depends on your playing style, and what you expect from the game. But if you are interested in creating your constructs and scripting their behavior, I hope you won't be disappointed by the deepness of the gameplay experience we propose.   So, let's summarize again what a "construct" is: in Dual, you can assemble chunks of matter (stone, wood, iron, kevlar, etc...) in any way you like, a bit like in Minecraft, but instead of simple cubes, you can forge almost any shape you like. The technology behind this is called "Dual Contouring". This can be used to build the hull of a spaceship, the walls of a castle or a gigantic statue. Up to you. Attached to this inert structural skeleton, you can add some components called Elements, which are actual gameplay components that you can deploy in your construct to make it functional. In a spaceship, you need propulsion engines, fuel tanks, navigation instruments, one or several cockpits, etc. All of these are Elements. The collection of all Shapes and Elements are what constitutes a construct, which is a whole that can be moved once created and is subject to the laws of physics (for example, it falls if dropped in a gravitational field). A construct can be owned, traded, copied, etc, but this is another story we will discuss in another post. Right now we will concentrate on one particular aspect: how do you orchestrate all the Elements so that they can work together? We will take the particular viewpoint of a spaceship, which is a good way to illustrate the concepts involved, but this can apply to anything you like, including a giant spaghetti monster robot or whatnot.   In terms of game design, we could opt for an easy strategy here. If you have the required number of engines in the right direction (no matter where they are), and you check the list of instruments needed, it would "magically" fly. With this approach, all ships would fly the same. Trying to put more engines, or optimizing their position would be more or less useless. Hoping to have an AI helping with automatic navigation would be up to the engineers of Novaquark only. Fancy a new way to drive your ship? Impossible. How about the weapons system? How about drones? All this would be predefined and more or less rigidly identical for all players. That's not what we have in mind for Dual Universe. While we will provide basic templates to start with, you?ll be able to engineer your construct the way you want. Engines are real (they physically push your ship where they are, with the power they have), gravity is real, weapons have to turn and target (which also requires a targeter). If you are smarter than others, you can get the job done in a better way, get an edge in battle, or in trade by launching the new Falcon X-42 superfighter and change the balance of game combat with new tactics and possibilities. It?s not only about how you can use the predefined capabilities of ships within a predefined classical game setting, but it?s also about how you can redefine these capabilities. We call it: emergent gameplay.   Each Element is an active unit. It can do basically two things: emit "events" and execute "functions". Let's give some examples: a radar unit can emit events like "new enemy detected at (x,y,z)", a jet engine can execute a function like "set thrusting power to 45%", a weapon can execute the function "fire", etc. Technically events and functions are described a bit the same way: a name followed by parameters written between parentheses. The above examples would become something like:   enemyAt(x,y,z) setPower(45) fire()   Events are emitted spontaneously by the Element when something happens for which it has been designed to react to, and functions are services that the element can fulfill when it is asked to by some external agent. When considering a particular Element, you want to know the list of events it can emit and the list of functions it can fulfill. This is entirely defining what this Element is, from the point of view of the gameplay. We call it its "Type".
  Now, how do you orchestrate the interactions between several Elements, each emitting events and reacting to them, fulfilling functions in return, etc? The central notion we introduce here is what we call a "Distributed Processing Unit", or DPU in short. A DPU is a bit like a computer program, an orchestrator. It has several slots in which it is possible to plug Elements, and it contains a list of event handlers that can react to events emitted by the Elements plugged inside its slots. The schema below illustrate this:     Events handlers are conceptually quite simple: they are "condition => action" managers. On one side, there is a conditional filter, which is a generalization of an event from a given slot, with certain parameters set to given expected values, while other parameters can take a variable "free" value. A particular event emitted by an Element in a slot will be examined by all event handlers, and it will trigger the event handlers if the event signature matches the event handler filter.   To give an example: suppose that we have a filter like ?enemyAt(x, 42, y)?, associated to the ?radar? slot. Now the radar slot emits the event ?enemyAt(11,42,66)?. This event matched the filter and so will trigger the event handler. If the event ?enemyAt(12,13,66)? is emitted however, it will not match the filter (because 13 is not equal to 42). The schema below illustrate this point:     On the other side of an event handler is the action that the handler can trigger when the filter is matched. This is where LUA really enters the scene. The action is simply a piece of LUA code. LUA is a very simple and efficient scripting language, for which you can get many tutorials online. You can try this for a start.   Now what kind of code will you write on the LUA side? Basically anything you want, but, as you guessed, it will ultimately contain some calls to functions among those provided by the Elements plugged in the DPU slots. The syntax will be something like: "self.engine2.setPower(42)". The "self" prefix is a requirement of LUA, then comes the name of the slot, and then the name of a function available from the Element in that slot, together with its parameters between parenthesis.   That's it. That's the basics of what a DPU is and how scripting works. Let me summarize: a DPU is an orchestrator, it has several slots in which you can plug Elements. You can then define event handlers to catch events emitted by these plugged Elements, and react by executing LUA code, which includes calls to functions taken amongst the set of available functions of your plugged Elements.   To be more precise, I have to refine this picture a little bit: I talked about customizing a DPU, but exactly what DPU are we talking about? Where is it? In fact, the DPU you want to customize is stored inside a special Element called a "Control Unit". The DPU is started when you activate the Control Unit (go next to it and press the activation key). Notice that there is no problem with having several Control Units (hence, DPUs) inside the same construct, potentially all activated at the same time.   Now, the DPU inside a Control Unit is special because you'll have a GUI to freely customize it (plug stuff into the slots, define event handlers, etc). Actually, you can do even more than what I just described: you can define a set of events that your DPU is capable of emitting (event emission is done via a special LUA syntax inside your scripts). You can also define a set of functions associated to your DPU, and the corresponding LUA code that should be executed when this function is requested. If you remember, I presented the type of an Element as the set of events and functions exposed by this Element when plugged inside a DPU. Actually, the truth is that there is in fact a DPU inside each Element (albeit not a customizable one), and the events and functions of this Element are actually the events and functions of its DPU. Now to the important conclusion: it is not really Elements that you plug inside the slots of your Control Unit's customizable DPU. It is in fact DPUs. It can be the DPU of Elements, when you plug Elements, but it can be more generic or abstract DPUs. More about this now.   One particularly important "abstract" DPU is the System DPU. This DPU is capable of emitting events when keys are pressed. You almost always want to plug the System DPU, because you want to control your scripts with keystrokes bound to actions. So, typically, you will have several event handlers in your custom DPU to catch action events emitted by the System DPU. The System DPU is also capable of emitting "timeout" events when a timer is due, or at regular intervals, and many other useful functionalities.   You know enough now to script a simple spaceship controller. You need to put a least one Control Unit in the ship, and customize its DPU. Inside this DPU, you will plug the System DPU (typically in the "system" slot), plus at least 3 engines pointing upwards to lift the ship, and 2 more engines at the back of the ship to make it move forward. You need also to plug a gyro (more exactly: an inclinometer), which is an Element that provides the getPitch and getRoll functions, to know about the pitch/roll angles of your ship. And that's it. Now you set a timer with the system DPU (call the system.setTimer(0.1) function to set the update every 0.1 second) and catch the corresponding timeout event. When caught, you can then associate the LUA script that will query the gyro about the pitch/roll and use these values to correct the intensity of thrust power in your motors (using the setPower function) to stabilize the ship tilting. And of course, you will also catch the action events from the System DPU to inform your script about the direction in which the player wants to stir the ship. The exact details of how this is done in terms of control and dynamics are beyond the range of this post, but it involves simple Newtonian physics about torques and forces.   This above custom made Control Unit DPU could be seen as a black box, a ?Stabilizer?, with 7 slots (5 engines, 1 gyro and the System DPU). You can move this black box in what we call a Component DPU, so that you can sell/exchange it. Now players possessing your ?Stabilizer? can plug it in their own Control Unit DPU along with their own Elements, and then connect these Elements in the Component slots, with a simple drag and drop interface, or a smart ?autoconfigure? system, making the whole process of scripting a ship very simple for those who don?t want to put their hand on code:     The DPU system goes ways beyond this simple ship stabilization example. Weapon control, whether in FPS direct view on a jet fighter, or in tactical overall view in a battleship, will be handled with DPUs. Scripting a drone can be done with DPUs. Setting the automatic defense mechanism of your castle can be made with DPUs. Factories can be automated with DPUs, etc. It's all about orchestrating Elements and Component DPUs via scripts that react to events and execute LUA code. The user interface is also scriptable to decide what happens when the Control Unit is activated, how Elements can display their status and give access to parameters (we will probably talk about this in another blog post).   Novaquark will be providing several useful "starter" Component DPUs to start with, as well as smart autoconfigure options to handle the most basic cases. You can get a ship to fly without knowing a thing about DPUs. But, if you are interested in this aspect of the game, it will be up to you to build from there and create the most amazing control system and contraptions, win the markets or the wars with them and leave your mark in the Dual Universe history of innovation and engineering!   JC Baillie, Project Lead.

Food management can be a great mechanic unto itself. For all of you QQing abut how your life is going to end if you need to eat a can of veggies every couple of hours consider the content that farming and hydroponics creates. These are HUGE gameplay elements which directly tie into resources like water and plant life.
 
They add tons of reasons to deform terrain, consider lighting (natural and artificial), they could even go so far as to have something like soil quality (maybe you can compost some rotten food and organic matter to increase soil quality).
 
Seriously, you'd deny all of that because you're too lazy to keep an avatar from starving to death? As long as a hunger mechanic isn't persistently annoying there's little reason not to have it. Plus on top of generic avatar nutrition there's also the bonus effects of certain foods and plants, the integration into medical supplies, and even more.
 
Seriously, this encompasses SO DAMN MUCH.