VU17: DirectX 10 fallback support

In one of the better decision MindArk has made since any of the graphical updates is the back support for systems with hardware not compatible with Direct X 11.

Since the recent graphical update, a number of people have been reporting receiving a message on  starting, that many graphic cards have been not been compatible with the new Direct X version.

In the most recent patch, fallback support for DirectX 10 has been added. When the system detects that you have a graphics card that only supports DirectX 10, it will fallback to using DirectX 10.

However, this fallback process may be removed in the future when weMindArk adds graphical features that DirectX 10 cannot handle. If your graphics card does not support DirectX 11, we recommend upgrading to a newer card before the fallback support is removed.


Most of the recent version of windows usually comes with DirectX 11 by default, older version of windows may need to download and install it, to check your DirectX version

1. Click Start.
2. Search and Click Run (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Run)
3. Type "dxdiag" in the Run window
4. If DirectX version is less than 11: Download DirectX 11 (Official Microsoft Website)

Note: Even if you have DirectX 11 is installed, your hardware might not be compatible with it. Cards older than Nvidia's 400 GT series or AMD's HD 5000 series are not be compatible with DirectX 11, even if you have it installed.

VU17: Tiering and enhancers update in December

More information has been released today by MindArk about the upcoming version update in December. In the upcoming update several changes and improvements will be made to the item tiering and enhancers systems to make it cheaper and easier to use.

MindArk plans to lower the cost of using these systems to help increase the usage of enhancers, this is to help stimulate an increase in crafting activity by increasing the demand for enhancers. It has also been stated that further updates will also contain further improvements to these systems.

One of the major improvements will be that 100% of the ingredients will be return in trade terminal value as shrapnel. A persons tier level will not longer be involved in salvaging ingredients when upgrading a tier of an item.

100% of the trade terminal value of enhancers will also be returned in the form of shrapnel when an enhancer breaks and enhancers inserted into limited items will now break much less often.

With the changes to the item tiering process, the "Tier Upgrader" profession will no longer have any purpose, and will be removed completely. Any remaining skill points will have its value converted to a corresponding "Tier Upgrading Skill Implant" and compensated at a markup of 20000% in early 2020.

In the meantime, anyone wishing to convert their existing "Tier Upgrading" skill points to PED can list "Tier Upgrading Skill Implants" on the auction and a MindArk Official avatar will buy any implants listed for 20000% markup or lower, once per week.

A few minor changes to the interface which will greatly improve the smoothness of the interactions will be the ability to attach and remove attachments and enhancers without unequipping the item first, and no longer needing to drag items from the inventory or storage to the tier upgrading window. Items from your inventory as well as items from an open storage terminal will automatically be used in the tier upgrading window. Items in vehicles or container storage will not be used.

Another minor improvement which improves the information the interface will provide to the user is the addition of a second decimal place to the tier level. This will provide more finer detailed information about the progress to the next tier level.

VU17: Graphical update in December

The upcoming release scheduled for early December will include the biggest visual update since the switch to the CryEngine, this update will greatly improve processing of light and colours.

MindArk is not switching from the CryEngine, but using features within the engine to improve post processing effects, colour, bloom and lighting to give a more natural and photographic appearance allowing planet partners to create better looking assets within Entropia.

Before and after shots have been provided by MindArk showing a visible difference of what the next update can provide. The first thing many will notice are the shadows are clearly more defined and look more natural. Light is more vibrant and reflections bounce light off of glass better and water is much more clearer. Even growing light emitting signs are much more clearer and easier to see from further away.

Important Note:
This update will effect older machines running Windows XP as the upgrade uses DirectX 11. DirectX 11 is only compatible with Windows Vista or later operating systems.
To found out more about how this can effect your system: Click Here.

News: New Mission System, No More Mission Terminal

Since the mission system was introduced in 2010, there have been continuous updates to the system to increase usability, improve features and expanded into new areas of game play. Today the number of missions has grown to over 4000 missions.

This week MindArk announced that in this years third quarter there will be a massive mission system overhaul, implementing a whole new mission system. This new system will be keeping in line with previous statements made by MindArk about making game play more streamline.

Mind Ark has publicly announced that:

"Plans for the most significant overhaul of the mission system to date, which is planned for release in the third quarter of 2019. Planet Calypso will be the first planet to introduce the new mission system. The other Planet Partners will transition to the new system soon afterwards"

One of the new expected main features to be implemented is that shared loot events and hunting in a team will now reward all contributing participants relevant progression in their missions based on relative contribution (whether the contribution is made by damage dealing, healing, or scanning), to compensate for decay.


Missions requiring kills of a specific creature will automatically begin whenever a qualifying creature is killed, removing the need to first interact with a mission terminal. Once a mission stage is completed, an interface will appear with the reward and the next mission stage will automatically begin.

This will make the iron missions more streamline, and more on par with achievements or milestones, and will save time for new people collecting mission.

Further information released about this update hints towards a "Bestiary" window will be added, this is where you will be able to keep track of all relevant information regarding your avatar’s current progression in the new hunting challenges that will be made available.



This overhaul will be a completely new system that will replace the current mission system, it has been stated by Mind Ark that:

"As this is a completely new system that will replace the current mission system, progress in existing missions unfortunately cannot be carried over into the new system. Therefore, we are taking this opportunity to give all participants an alert to the upcoming changes several months in advance so that they have time to complete any active missions."

There will also be a period where both the new and old systems will be in place at once, during which kills on qualifying creatures will result in progress on both the old and new system. This grace period between the two systems will extend approximately one year from the implementation of the new mission system.

After the implementation of the new mission system, if you complete the requirements for the iron mission during the cross over period, you will receive the usual reward, but you will not be able to begin the next mission of the old system. Instead, you will automatically receive the next stage of the new system.

When the one year cross over period has elapsed, all missions from the old system will be disabled for all participants. Progress will no longer be possible for the missions, and uncompleted missions will not provide any rewards. There will be a similar grace period of the implementation of the new mission system for planet partners.

The main reasons for the current changes taking place is down to the existing system being very taxing on the servers. When it was designed, was not intended to be used this way where many players have lots of Iron Missions at the same time.

Game play wise, players were forced to find the missions before hunting just so that they didn’t feel that they lost progression. This will no longer be an issue. With the new systems the mission of the creature will be added automatically if you participate in the kill.

Players will be able to play together and get rewarded for all the activity that they do when in a team. MindArk is also looking to create more interesting missions instead of relying on the Iron Missions for activity.

Originally the grace period was only one month, and based on community feedback was extended to over a year, this is to include kills earned in the migration period.

The new system will include more ranks than the previous iron mission chain. The rewards are different too, you can choose from a larger selection of skills and the iron missions will be repeatable.

Where the current mission system is based on kill count or points, the new system will be based on the contribution calculation. The progression will now be at one place where you can easily track and see it. It can also be compared with others and that can also open up for new challenges in the future.

News: Crystal Palace Shares

In the previous few updates we have covered that crystal palaces would be the first land area in Entropia to be sold as shares and in the last update we seen this starting to be implemented, just like the deeds that currently exist in game, if purchased, you will be able to earn a percent of the hunting tax on Crystal Palace.

Currently the prices of the shares are set to cost 10 PED each during the starting period, and a total of 500,000 share are up for sale. The fund earned will go to the current land area owner, "Buzz Erik Lightyear", whom had trouble selling as a whole land area due to the price.

Revenue is generated from hunting activity in the four Crystal Palace biodomes, not including the cave areas. 95% of revenue is paid as dividends to shareholders.

5% of revenue is allocated for the cost of the Energized Fertilizer required for the running of the biodomes, event prizes, and other estate maintenance and improvements.

Tax rate in all biodomes will be initially set to 4.5%. MindArk states that these setting can potentially be voted on by shareholders in the future. Payments of the revenue will be payed every Monday.

The estate will be managed by the official avatar "MindArk CrystalPalace Manager". Energized Fertilizer necessary to maintain creature spawns in the biodomes will be acquired by "MindArk CrystalPalace Manager" at the normal auction at market prices.

Crystal Palace Space Station shares can be acquired via the new share center interface, or in the Entropia Universe Webshop. The new share center interface can be access by right clicking on the your PED card.

Currently you are only able to buy these shares. Crystal Palace shares will be able to be traded in the version update currently scheduled for mid September (approximately 120 days from initial sale).

News: Arkadia Moon Updates

Back at the end of January we got an update of how many deeds remained on the webstore, a total of "54,209" out of the original "200,000" deeds are left to purchase.

Since then the Arkadia team have focused on content surrounding the moon, introducing quite a few extra hunting missions including a small expansion pack to the smuggler story line.

New level 4 and 5 iron missions have now been added have been added to Oompa Warhounds, GMC_03_Gammas, Oompas, Sicarius Brutes, Sicarius Commands and Sicarius Workers.

There is also new story driven content for Smugglers and for PTECH Industries. The Arkadia team has stated that this is only part 1 of 4, so many more missions are coming in the next update.


Smuggler Missions

The smugglers have now opened one of their HQ's to members who joined their ranks and proved themselves. You will be required to discover an agent that is watching the movements of the cities but is hidden somewhere on the moon. They will tell you what you need to do get your access pass to enter HQ. Keeping in mind that this HQ is well hidden, only those who are worthy will be able to enter.

Once you gain access to the smugglers, you will be able to see the start of a complete new story line that will hint what they have been up to and require you to obtain a certain series items to be able to get the Smuggler Hazmat suit. This suit will be required for a deep undercover mission. Discover it and find out what lays ahead. There might be a backpack hidden in there somewhere, but it depends... if you answer correctly... Ned will be watching.


Civilian Missions

The communications on the moon have had some serious issues of tampering and weathering. PTECH needs your help in repairing the connection and discovering the issues. You will be required to report to the PTECH engineer located at the communication center in assisting them at discovering what might be the problem.

PTECH will also require you to assist in helping the repairs of the extractors but be warned, it might be a bit radioactive, but hey, nobody complains about extra body parts right?

Oratan Attacks Are Back

Intel has shown that the Oratan have started to move around the bases and plan attacks that will happen randomly, so be prepared, their attacks are as savage as their nature 

Whats coming in the next VU...

Firstly, the Arkadia team wants the members of the Imperial Federal Navy (IFN) to know that they will be working on the expansion of the story line, including missions that will take you to new locations and start working to smite the Smugglers. This will require your advancement in PVP skills.

Secondly, after countless requests, the Arkadia team will be working to bring Gold Rush 2019 later this year. The team will be working on a new set of prizes as well as new ways of engaging with this content.

Currently the Arkadia team is working on a complete series of events that will be player driven and controlled. These events will include hidden passages, new lairs and new creatures.

Event: Robots Attacking Again (Tactical Strike: Secure The Node)

The robots are at it again on Calypso, The Calypso Defense Force (CDF) have identified Attacker, Big Bulk, Defender, Spider Bomber, Steel Bird and Vanguard robots amongst the ranks of the attacking forces.

The Calypso Research and Defense Institute (RDI) has identified several areas on Eudoria that needs to be secured as they are critical to the robot war effort.

The RDI’s goals have been to gather intelligence that would allow the CDF to secure and gain access to one or more base matrix nodes in order to retrieve information about the robot force’s strategies, strength and numbers.

The RDI made a breakthrough in its research and transferred a list of possible base matrix node areas to the CDF. However, this transmission was intercepted by the robots, and just hours later robot reinforcements have been sent to assemble at the identified node areas.

The designated critical areas are, Cape Corinth, Camp Phoenix, Chugs Hideout, Fort Ithaca, Fort Pandora, Fort Troy and Minopolis.

Robot forces include Spider Bombers, Steelbirds, Big Bulk, Steelbird Elites, Defenders, Defender Elites and Vanguards.

News: MindArk Q&A Speculation

Entropiazine News Update
Entropia Universe News Report

In this issue:
> MindArk Conducts Q&A
> Suspected Auction And Society Interface Update
> Hunting, Mining, Crafting & Space Updates.
> MindArk Hiring in 2019




Last month MindArk conducted a public question and answer session on the Calypso Forum, a lot can be speculated from these posts about updates we might expect in the futures.

I have highlight some of the responses to these questions which would indicate the current future of Entropia behind the scenes.

More Interface Updates And Tweeks

One response to a general auction question about copying links on the auction has lead me to suspect that auction window will likely be updated. MindArk official Dennis responded with:

"This is a good suggestion and something we plan to include in a more general update to the auction interface."

MindArk official Magnus stating to a response to the question "What would you be asking for if you were on our side of this?"

"With the auction system being such a central part to EU what are your plans in modernising it?"

These comments by MindArk have led me to believe that a part of this interface update currently ongoing, we are likely to see a change in the auction interface, and maybe even changes in how the auction process is conducted.

Many may have noticed that the society terminals have been removed and have been replaced with the F11 key (Current Default). MindArk Official Dennis said,

"We do have quite a few plans to implement new features for the Society system, several of which were inspired by suggestions from the community. Unfortunately we cannot give any time projection on when those might be implemented."

MindArk Goals

MindArk Official Henrik discuses plans to expand in 2019 with the hiring in new staff:

"We plan to increase the number of employees at MindArk during 2019. This will allow us to focus on more projects and delivery them more quickly and at a higher quality." 

With many of the side projects developed by MindArk, being put on hold or cancelled and refunded, like Deep Tokens and ComPets, Henrik has stated,

"MindArk has renewed its commitment to focus its resources exclusively on Entropia Universe for the foreseeable future."

On further questioning about the ComPets Deeds and the state of ComPets, if it is actually suspended and still capable of producing revenue for ComPet Deeds holders in the future, Kenrik said,

"As stated in the message to all ComPet Deed holders, there is no ongoing development with ComPet; any revenue it does generate is being accumulated for a later payout but this is expected to be quite small."

All plans involving Arkadia Moon Deeds is set to continue with its current status. MindArk has maintained that they will continue sell Arkadia Moon Deeds on the web store, and only when they have all been sold via the web store, the Deeds will become trade-able among people in Entropia.

Currently a few players have been asking if the MindArk had any intention of updating the game engine, Henrik responded with

"There are no immediate plans to move Entropia Universe to a new game engine, but we do of course keep ourselves informed of the latest developments in the game engine scene."

With the last major graphics engine update leaving many people behind on hardware compatibility and with the intense internal changes to the code that would be required as they adapt Entropia for the new engine, this would not be a viable option for MindArk. The cost and time involved could be spent dealing with current issue, and am personally glad they have responded this way.

Hunting

In the not so distant future expect to see more events and missions based around the lore of Entropia, Henrik stated

"We do indeed intend to put more emphasis on lore and storyline. In fact, we have a dedicated Game Writer and all-around loremaster (James|MindArk) who has been heavily focused on the Calypso storyline for quite some time now."

Dennis goes on to describe in a number of replies the details of changes that was applied during the loot 2.0 update and the flexibility that it will provide the content team.

"Our development team was focused on big structural changes and design for the Mayhem events, as well as the release of Loot 2.0 along with general stability improvement for the client and platform. Now with those projects in place our team will have more time for content development. We have also added more resources to the content team and this is something you will notice in 2019."

This update will allow easier implementations of new equipment and new events in future updates

"In the past there were technical limitations to shared mission progress when teaming, however this is now possible for new missions with the contribution-based features seen in recent dynamic events and Mayhem quests. Our plan is for new missions to utilise this system. Loot 2.0 also gives us more flexibility with item and creature parameters, so look forward to some exciting new items and content in the future."

Mining And Crafting

Loot 2.0 was stated by Dennis does not deal with mining or crafting, and only deals with hunting loot, but mining and crafting stability is constantly being updated.

"We also later made adjustments to reduce volatility in the crafting and mining systems, but that was not directly related to the Loot 2.0 system. Those adjustments were in general very well received by the community, based on feedback received via support cases and forum discussions. The Crafting and mining systems are constantly being monitored and tweaked."

As already mentioned, a number of new things are expected to be released for crafting in the near future, that is clear, but we are also likely to see more mining events.

"We are actually currently working on a mining event that will happen alongside Easter Mayhem, stay tuned for more info soon!"

Space Updates

Henrik mainly answered questions pertaining to space, starting off by apologising for premature announcement of features,

"Development of space in Entropia Universe has certainly progressed much slower than we have wished or anticipated in the past, which led to premature announcement surrounding potential space features or other design plans. We understand that this has led to frustration within the community, and we apologize for that."

With the current camera update, any further development might be delayed due to the tweaking of this, as this is currently the main thing that effects most of the users currently, but MindArk is likely to be looking into updating space drastically in the future.

"Our vision for space is one in which there is a healthy and vibrant interplanetary economy between the various planets and space entities. We also envision space-specific content, but we are not prepared to share specific plans at the moment."

Even though specific plans are not publicly outlined, Henrik did let slip some information,

"We do plan to ultimately add space ships within different classes and with additional functionality, but that would be part of a larger Space release."