After Titian

After Titian
Acrylic on Canvas Paper
© 1998, Jeff Thomann

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http://allartists.wikispaces.com/

I have a tendency to start big projects and not get them done sometimes… especially if they are in locations I don’t visit much… I’m a visually oriented person. Out of sight, out of mind. Anyways, a while back I started a blog to list artists, and then made a wiki for it since the blog was limiting as I was the only one that could enter info on it… I will try to add more to the wiki going forward, and you should feel free too. The wiki is located at http://allartists.wikispaces.com/

http://www.entropiaforum.com/forum/calypso-general-discussion/199321-q-see-digital-studios-rebuttal-part-1-a.html#post2570149

Originally posted this over at
http://www.entropiaforum.com/forum/calypso-general-discussion/199321-q-see-digital-studios-rebuttal-part-1-a.html#post2570149

Copying it here since I’ve come to the realization that like many other forums of the past (entropia-pioneers, entropiareality, etc.), even entropiaforum may not be here in a few years, like so many other other community forums, so the history may eventually wash away as people rewrite history in their own biased vision down the road… May come back and edit this later…

The Questions that were posted by the community are here:
[url]http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?205837-Q-amp-A-Thread-The-Next-Chapter[/url]

and the original Q&A session was first mentioned here:
[url]http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?205836-Planet-Calypso-The-Next-Chapter[/url]

The Answers that were posted are here:
[url]http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/content.php?150-SDS-Q-A-(Part-1[/url])

The Answers received from Mindark so far:
[url]http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?206302-Support-news-from-JWT&highlight=welter[/url]

According to the answers thread, Hanne says that SDS
[quote]have responded to[B] all[/B] Planet Calypso and Entropia-related questions[/quote]

Let’s do a question by question breakdown of the questions that were asked and try to figure out which questions were asked that were [B]NOT[/B] responded to yet…

Also, while we are at it, let us take a look at this old Q&A session from a few years back, and some of the related threads that have come in to existence lately about various promises from the past to it to see if we can figure out what answers are still not out there that have been hanging around from back then that still need resolution:
[url]http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?66126-Q-amp-A-Answers-%28May-07%29[/url]

Here’s a few of the threads tied to some of the older promises, some of which were never delivered (yet)
[url]http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?200643-Marco-said-….&p=2597728&viewfull=1#post2597728[/url]

[url]http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?205880-Content-of-Oblivion[/url]

Then maybe that will give them something to be forthcoming with at a future date?… They promise better communication going forward. One way to help make that happen is to help identify where mis-communications have occurred in the past, figure out what promises from the past were made that were not honored, etc.

for quick reference, here’s a copy of the answers…
[quote]Support news from JWT
Statement from the CEO Jan Welter Timkrans concerning upcoming systems inside Entropia Universe

“We are currently prioritizing the systems necessary for the entire “Entropia Universe Concept” to function correctly. This includes getting the rudimentary space flight system that we had implemented in earlier versions up to speed. This is now our number one priority, which I am sure a number of current holders of hangars are pleased to hear. The new space system will permit flight from one planet to any other planet within the Entropia Universe and of course there will be opportunities for a lot of adventures along your travels.

We would also like to inform you that we have already employed about 20% new programmers who have started work in 2011 and we are aiming to employ about 20% additional programmers in the first and second quarters of 2011 so we can speed up the delivery of systems into Entropia Universe. Work has already started on the “Taming” and “ Mentoring” systems which will be back with a number of added features. Next in line is the “Makeup” and “Beacon “systems and mutants.”

Sincerely,

Jan Welter Timkrans[/quote]

[quote]Hello colonists!

We have taken a look at the many questions you shared with us regarding the recent acquisition of First Planet Company, and have responded to all Planet Calypso and Entropia-related questions. We greatly appreciate your interest and look forward to continuing to respond to your queries as we continue under our new structure as SEE Digital Studios. More great things to come!

*Please note that all questions pertaining to Planet Michael will be answered as additional information is made available.

Thank you for your patience!
Hanne

So, let’s start!

General
· How many full time staff will there be working on Planet Calypso?
The staff at First Planet Company has been retained and is now at SEE Digital Studios where they will continue to enhance Planet Calypso. Currently, the Planet Calypso team is focusing on continued post-launch development and updates.

· What can we expect in 2011? Can we have a roadmap?
We are not at liberty to disclose this information at the time, but we assure you that there will be many exciting new developments in 2011.

· When will we be able to sit down and lay down again?
This functionality is provided by the platform supplier MindArk, and will return.

· Have you given any thought to competitions for ideas, storylines, and new products for the players to help with development?
Yes, we plan on integrating in-game competitions that will involve the community in our efforts to continue rolling out new content in Planet Calypso.

· Where are the power fists? I am a level 43 Brawler (hit) without a power fist available to hunt or skill with.
SEE Digital Studios will continue to add new items throughout the planet, including new power fists.

· How much time does the design team have available to fix things like texture issues, bugs like when you can’t place items on pedestals, shop bugs etc.
SEE Digital Studios is working with the AGILE software development model, which segments each SDS content release into a number of sprints and milestones. The total development time is usually between 1 – 2 months depending on the release content. Due to the separation of platform and content, bugs are allocated to either MindArk or SDS. Depending on when SDS receives a bug report within our sphere of influence, its fix will be added to the current or next release plan.

· Is MindForce going to be Calypso-exclusive or are we going to SEE that on other planets as well? Like… Moonwalk Chip II (L)?
MindForce is an activity available throughout the Entropia Universe, and therefore can be used by all colonists on other planets. However, while the underlying system is generic, colonists may individually express themselves through MindForce. For example, magic can be used on a medieval planet.

· Is removing/adding event content always going to take weeks/months to change?
Adding new content and events takes time to plan, create, execute and finalize. Therefore it is difficult to put a time-frame on the process.

· Is it currently possible for things to happen in real time on the servers? Or must patches be applied?
Even though SEE Digital Studios has some access to real time parameters, most changes require a patch.

· Does SEE have plans to upgrade the Beacon system, providing different types of Beacons maybe, which yield different types of missions, in different types of location, against different creatures, etc.?
MindArk is continuing to develop the underlying Beacon system. They are enhancing the old systems and reintroducing them to give colonists new and improved quests.

· Will corporations be introduced into the game?
As we have stated in the past, we would like to develop the idea of corporations along the lines of factions.

· Any plans for new storage containers that aren’t so restrictive? Weight reducing containers that aren’t so rare?
This suggestion is being taken into consideration.

· Are the equipment, weapons, etc., going to be added too? Will any new gear be released and looted?
Yes, we currently have plans to add new equipment, weapons and gear.

· Will the additional funds now available allow for one or more additional developers working on community requests only?
Increasing communication with the community is one of our top priorities for 2011. We are working at establishing a stronger relationship between the community and SDS.

• Will there be more vehicles released?
Yes, we have plans to release many more vehicles, starting with the spaceship, which goes with the hangar system.

· Where are Simon and Emma?
Simon and Emma are still very much involved, but are now focusing their efforts toward in-game events and item parameterization.

Forum and Communication
· Will there be more communication with the end user (via forums, bulletin or email) to keep them updated on the future of development of both planets, due to the increased number of staff working on both?

Increasing communication with the community is one of our top priorities for 2011. We are working at establishing a stronger relationship between the community and SDS.

· Will this be the official Michael Jackson Forum?
No, Planet Michael will have its own forum at planetmichael.com.

· With new staff can we get frequent updates about what is happening both In-game and development status?
Yes, as mentioned, SEE Digital Studios is working toward increasing our relationship with the community. With that said, communicating in-game content updates and development status is at the top of our list.

· Is this the beginning of a new and sustained dialogue with the community?
Yes, as mentioned, we are currently exploring different methods of ongoing community satisfaction within the areas of communication and overall development.

· Do you have the feeling, the communication between you and the player base is good or bad?
Following requests by the community we have certainly increased communication by hiring Hanne as our dedicated community manager, and taking over the Entropia Forum, rebranding it as the official Planet Calypso forum. We now we have a forum dedicated to Planet Calypso and a community manager with strong ties. With that said, we plan to continue enhancing our interaction with the community by becoming even more involved and listening to feedback.

· Are you concerned by all the hate topics in the forum, or do you think most of the players are happy?
User feedback is always encouraged as it helps us understand the wants and needs of the community. We pay close attention to the negative comments in order to make improvements and ensure that we’re responding to loyal players with the big changes they’d like to see implemented wherever possible. This is a game for the community after all.

· What will change about these forums with this take over?
Initially there will be no major changes, however, over time we will improve the overall experience and connect more with the game and our player base.

· Will you be the official community manager regarding the MJ forum?
We are not at liberty to disclose this information at this time, but we assure you that Hanne’s focus will continue to be on Planet Calypso.

· Will you (SDS) listen to what your community is telling you?
Absolutely, user feedback is constantly encouraged as it helps us understand the wants and needs of the community.

· How long before this latest spurt of interest in the player base wanes and it’s back to the normal wall of silence and no communication from anyone other than Hanne?
Hanne is the official community manager so the majority of SEE Digital Studios communication currently comes from her, however we are working at establishing a stronger relationship between the community and all of SDS.

· There is a wish list here on the forum that in quite a number of cases contains a huge number of great, and seemingly easy to implement, enhancements and ideas. Is there a staff member in your company that’s responsible for actually checking this thread and passing the ideas on for further analysis?
The forum threads are closely monitored and both SEE Digital Studios and MindArk are very well aware of the wish list.

· Can we get quarterly ‘state of the game’ posts, about which direction you are taking the game.
The suggestion will be taken into consideration.

Economy
· What will be done to the current sweat crisis as there is only one use for ME on this planet and that is Teleport Chips?
We’re taking a hard look at this situation to see what we can do in the near future.
·
With the constant introduction of more land without an equivalent growth in the player base the value of each plot keeps dropping. What are your policies on this? Can SEE/SDS release as much new land as they please or are there restrictions? If so, what are these?
SEE Virtual Worlds and SEE Digital Studios will continue to implement the platform restriction ratio of land areas to active users.

· What will be done to the Planet Calypso economy to ensure better return rates?
Return rates are a part of platform balancing, which is managed by MindArk. However, SEE Digital Studios is currently in discussions with MindArk about balancing matters in order to enhance the end user experience.

· Is it guaranteed that big yearly sales like Medusa will happen going forward?
No, like most in-game transactions, some years there will have larger yearly sales than others.

· Will there be more DNA dropping including new ones?
Yes.

· What steps will you take to correct the turmoil caused by VU 10.0 conversions of land areas and the introduction of iron missions for some mobs and not for others? Some of these changes were so drastic they reduced the value of some land areas by up to 80%. When if ever will you attempt to correct the remaining conversion issues, and at what point will you introduce iron missions for the remaining mobs to balance out the current imbalance?
We have been adjusting land areas since VU 10. It is our long-term goal to eventually have iron missions on all mobs.

· Will any land investment opportunities be added for smaller budgets? For example Land share market.
Yes, we are constantly looking at ways of expanding the economy for all budget sizes.

· What are your plans to address Squatters, in reference to Empty LA’s, Shops, etc., managed by inactive players?
SEE Digital Studios will continue to follow the terms set out in the Account Inactivity Policy, which will deem any account inactive if it has not been logged in to for a period of three hundred consecutive days.

Marketing
· Does this mean you now have a budget for some serious advertising?
We are not at liberty to disclose this information.
Concrete plan to attract a growing stream of new participants into the universe – is there one and if so what is it?
In very general terms, we intend to address retention and customer service, as well as acquisition.

· Are there any plans to have a more traditional marketing campaign, specifically television advertisements, on the scale of other major studios such as Blizzard, EA, and Ubisoft? Or do you not consider yourselves in the same league?
Several media campaigns are being considered to increase exposure of Planet Calypso.

Planet Calypso Specific
· Will the storyline of Calypso be actively developed?
Yes.

· Are you going to tie up all the loose ends from previous stories? Using what functions?
Yes, we will be providing answers to any unsolved stories that will be sure to satisfy on all levels. For example, a major focus this year will be the resolution of the infamous ’Egg Story’.

· What is your vision for the future of Calypso?
Our main vision for the future of Planet Calypso includes streamlining, adding new opportunities and content, introducing events, and focusing our efforts on the overall colonist experience.

· When will the rest of Planet Calypso be developed? Server remakes and the rest of Amethera?
The development of Planet Calypso will be ongoing. Gradually we’ll address more of the servers and the development status.

· Will the Hangar system still be back next VU?
Yes, we plan on bringing the hangers back later this year.

· Where are Kerberos and Umbranoids?
Rest assured, Kerberos and Umbranoids will also return later this year once technical issues have been remedied.

· What about big story events for all professions instead of just hunters?
We have already included miners and crafters, but part of our long-term plan includes involving all player groups.

· When are we going to actually be able to travel to Akbal and/or Cimi?
We think this is a great idea and will take this into consideration. Thanks!

· What will SEE do differently to make me want to stay on Planet Calypso?
Some of the many changes will include increased product quality and communication, as well as better customer service.

· LandGrab?
We have no information at this time.

· Are we at war with the robots still or did we win?
As you know machines never give up but at times they need rebooting. This being said, the war is not over!

· And will the migration of Eomon be an actual migration or will they teleport from one location to the next every few hours?
We do want to get back to an actual migration feel and have received a few basic tools from MindArk that should allow us to achieve this.[/quote]

copy of the answers from 2007 Q&A
[quote]Q&A Answers (May 07)
Hello crew!

Here are the Balancing Manager’s responses to the Q&A. Any questions that were unrelated to balancing were omitted. Also, rather than respond “I cannot comment on the inner workings of the dynamics of Entropia Universe”, any other questions that required such a reply were also omitted in the responses.

Thanks to all who provided questions for this thread. A New Q&A will come later on, and with a faster time frame between Q:s and A:s.

Post 2
Are rare items expensive because they are rare or have they become rare drops because of inflation?
Submitted by Soundboy

It’s because of their rarity.

Post 5
What were the biggest/most surprising balancing mistakes ever made?
Submitted by Pirx Danford

When the loot during 10 seconds after a release contained 1000 times more shadow armor parts than there should have been.

Post 11
When am I going to get some decent loot or claims bigger than ample?
Submitted by dean

I actually don’t know and that’s a good thing.

Post 13
The question is would a hunter have the same profit with the same loot on different LA’s with different taxes?
Submitted by Raffaele Meiers

On a land area with higher taxes the hunter pays higher taxes.

Post 14
Why do you not “raise the bar” with SIB tools and weapons that require skills higher than the current “maxed” skills (~10k average) to give ubers something to aim for instead of destroying the chances of anyone new becoming uber (without an uber bank account)?
Submitted by Doer

We are doing that.

Post 17
There are certain items that have disappeared completely from the game, or are stuck on old avatars not active anymore. I think it’s a shame that those items will be lost in history (and in some cases, all we have is pictures to know they existed). Not only talking about equipment, but rare clothing-pieces. We all know clothing doesn’t drop anymore so getting it back seems rather hopeless unless you plan to do something about it.
Do MindArk in any way plan for these items to have their “return” on Calypso?
Submitted by Skam

We have no plans to return these items.

Post 18
Sometimes fairly common types of loot stop dropping completely, like Fine wool a few weeks ago. Is this on purpose or by mistake?
Submitted by Darkaner

There is always a natural variation cycle in drop rates on all items.

Post 22
Is the promised MindForce update coming or have you given that up?
Submitted by nisse

It hasn’t been given up on. It will be done.

Post 26
Does EVERY one in Entropia have the same programmed or instilled “luck”?
Submitted by jak

Of course everybody has the same installation there is no such thing as luck.

Post 31
Why are rifles so plentiful and seemingly encouraged, with few options in melee weapons?
Submitted by Spud Striker

We are starting to introduce more now, with many more planned for.

Post 32
Was the almost 20k ped HOF of Rugaritz a regrettable mistake?
Submitted by strakkan

No, but very rare.

Post 33
Can we expect more L weapons to fill the incremental SIB equipment void soon?
submitted by The Nightbird

Yes.

Post 42
As the balancing manager how do you determine when you can release more Land Areas/Asteroids/Space Stations/etc without severely impacting existing owners and their profit?
Submitted by Vap0r

Time, statistics, and a pre-planned release strategy.

Post 45
Will there be unlimited (!) melee amps, or improvement of melee generally?
Submitted by Alice

Yes to both.

Post 48
Will you ever actually release a list (sort of a ‘Heads Up!’) in regards to HOW and possibly WHAT drops certain new items?
Submitted by Sunab Naverith

We have no such plans today.

Post 50
What is the effect of the new auction fees on the general market transaction balance?
Submitted by helena

No unnecessary transportation sales, no display entries in the auction, an overall growth of the use of the auction and finally a growth of the use of participant owned shops.

Post 52
What role do the commercial ads play with loots, ATH and HOFs?
Submitted by Haxtor moogle

They add money to the system by being watched.

Post 55
When will you update with something not only MA is gaining on?
submitted by SODERD

We have done, and do so with every release – sometimes small things, sometimes whole systems. To take some examples: sweating, land areas, participant shops, auction system, real world and participant commercial system, Event system.

Post 56
How many people are in the balancing department, what are their responsibilities and what is the process to balance a VU (loot changes, new features, etc.)?
Submitted by fluke

I cannot go into details here, but there is a group of more than five people involved in all balancing.

Post 62
Will there be any amps for faps in the near future?
Submitted by Omega

We have no plans today to introduce them.

Post 63
Why does MA make things better for crafters and worse for miners and hunters.
Submitted by bigdeal

We don’t, there are always ways to find opportunities in all systems.

Post 64
Can we expect to see more frequent events and story lines that actually have both a head and a tail?
Submitted by JackFree

Yes.

Post 69
What makes an item balanced?
Submitted by Dunn

Many parameters determine balance, here are some of them. An item is balanced when:
It fits the user’s skill interval and current state in EU, meaning that it is fun to use and lets you interact with fun and intriguing events or mobs.
It doesn’t cost too much to use and its owner knows it.
You cannot drain the system with it.
It can be found in the way it was meant and with the right frequency.
The owner knows it’s expensive to use, but its fun to use or it has an interesting and unique advantage.

Post 78
How many in game data points are you able to balance?
Submitted by Gazza

There are millions if you mean when items and rules are created. A lot fewer when the systems, items and Entropia are running. The goal is to sit beside the universe watching the nature of Entropia take its course.

Post 79
I believe that the return rate (the “cash/ped” that the users are getting from the system as loot) should be increased. Why shall I play this game and not play on a casino where the odds are much more for me to gain some money?
Submitted by Niovara

I agree, everything we do aims for a better return rate for the users, but must still pay for the systems and us at MindArk. I think you should participate in Entropia because it’s a virtual universe and nothing else.

Market prices are at work, services are up for trade, socializing and training pays off. Opportunities are there all the time for the observant and hard working participant and not just at the same place everyday.

The universe isn’t static and predictable instead it’s built on natural laws and the goals of the users in it and that’s what makes it intriguing and full of possibilities.

Post 80
As far as I know only CEO and balance-manager know exactly about and set the parameters of the loot-system.
Since this is the most important part of the whole RCE-game: Is some 3rd person/team checking their work or do they just proof each others work?
Submitted by Agnus Dei

There is a bigger team working with these questions today.

Post 87
We’ve heard the term “Balancing Manager” ad nauseum, but there’s been no real description of what that position entails. Please describe exactly what you balance.
Submitted by AlphaGeek

Firstly, there is a whole team involved in balancing work. The team analyze every new system from when it’s only an idea to when you all are using it.

What will the system affect? What will it give and what will it take? What should the cost be to use the system and the items connected to it? Who will use the system, who are the real life users of system and who are the in world users? How will the system affect the performance of the hardware and the software platform and what will it cost to solve possible bottlenecks?

And of course the team continually analyze how a system works long after it has been released.

Post 93
Does MindArk have any plans of rekindling the past staples of our economic growth, or is their vision purely of advancing into the future?
Submitted by Stryker

We are constantly working with both new and old systems. It’s just a matter of time and the point of view of the beholder.

Post 94
Some time after VU with amp nerf has passed. Now what were impacts of it on “balance” (maybe reallocating part of loot from opalo users to high-lvl hunters etc.)?
Submitted by Denis

There is now a point in constructing, finding, selling and owning amplifiers other than just the best type. This has boosted the whole economy regarding amplifiers.

Post 99
Why do some mobs loot a large variety of items while other mobs loot only 1 or 2 items?
Submitted by Chilly

All creatures have different benefits and drawbacks.

Post 105
Is it balanced to make it better for low and high level players and worse for the mid-level?
Submitted by habanero

All users can find opportunities no matter what level they are at.

Post 112
Today my hit ability is for example 3.9/10, 6.1/10 on EP-10 and the same up to EP-50, shouldn’t the hit ability be higher on low guns and get lower on high guns depending on your skills?
Submitted by Rapido

You have to use skill interval dependent tools to get what you ask for.

Post 113
Is MA’s plan to keep going the actual process: Universe drain investor through big PR that deposit a lot of cash to buy “asset” and parasite gamer with tax and fee to use the new universe feature (examples: malls, CND, Land areas)?
Submitted by Etopia

We want to have many types of user groups. Investors with possibilities to enhance the experience of Entropia are one of those groups but certainly not the only one or even the biggest. Remember that they in many cases do important work with their areas and it’s voluntary to enter their areas.

Post 121
Rare Items/Ores and especially Blueprints in inactive accounts are a huge balancing problem, because they can be reactivated.
Limited Items avoid this problem.
But what will you do to balance the existing rare Blueprints (etc) in inactive accounts?
Submitted by schnups

The inactive accounts are eventually purged and the items go back to Entropia open market. All this is taken account for in the balancing.

Post 126
Are we all dealing with the same virtual world, insofar as odds/rules/chances?
Submitted by Amanita

Of course.

Post 127
Will Houses ever have the option of selling items when a player is off line like a shop without the need of a shopkeeper?
Submitted by TotalTwist

You need to have a shop or a shopkeeper.

Post 128
Is Land Grab no longer existent?
Submitted by Mercury

It definitely is existent and will return, in a different way though.

Post 136
When will respawn rate of mobs be fixed during events?
Since kinda hilarious to try to host nice events for community if there isn’t any mobs left after 5-15min of shooting in LA. No problem with Big mobs and 10 or 20 participants, but above 20 participants LA will be wiped clean.
submitted by Zap

The mobs will re-spawn faster after the next release.

Post 148
In a previous support case I asked if there will ever be any whip better than my Cobra ME. The reply was NEVER. So if there will never be any whip with more damage – how can the taming system work with bigger mobs?
Submitted by Sneaky B’stard

Of course there will be more whips that do more damage.

Post 158
The transferring of skills as it is now seems to be very confusing for most players. Will we see a system that is easier to manage, like just entering i want to fill a chip with 10 PED worth of skill x, then it shows how many of your skills that would take away and you press ok?
Submitted by Snakecharmer

No plans for that now.

Post 176
What is the prime motivation in your balancing?

To create a sustainable intriguing world with indisputable natural laws that can host a vast number of users and activities.

Post 192
I’m wondering if MA is going to introduce more mobs that use firearms as their
combat mode? There are currently 96 mobs in Entropia, of those only 5 are firearms.
Submitted by m0000

Yes.

Post 212
Whilst this isn’t strictly speaking a balancing issue, it does have a relevant impact for crafters. The lack of knowledge of what these attachments (scopes and lasers) actually do quite possibly subdues the market for them thus having a direct impact on the cost of crafting such attachments for crafters. Can MindArk provide a little more clarity as to the function of laser sights and scopes?
submitted by Jimmy B

More information has been delivered to all items, we are just not ready with all items yet.

Post 218
Now that players will be able to upload content of their own in form of pictures, ads or videos, wouldn’t it be cool to be able to upload your own musical compositions?
Submitted by Glyphan

Yes.

Post 221
Will there be more shops available at places like Genesis, Omegaton, Sakura?
Submitted by Violet

Yes.

Post 270
Are there any plans to introduce farms in the game, or farming licenses?
Submitted by Dusk

Yes.

Post 271
Will we one day have the ability to take one melee weapon in each hand?
Submitted by ufcfl

Yes.

Post 272
Does MA has an “inferior loot list” for avatars that have been annoying?
Submitted by Micheva

No.

Post 281
Will an item appear on market by re-looting it after it was TTed (used up)? Is the rule applicable to any kind of items?
Submitted by Auktuma

I’m not going to give details, but it works something like that.[/quote]

Here’s some of the questions that were posted that were not responded to that I’ve located.
[quote]Exciting to see all these new planets popping up.
There is thread about cost to travel between planets but can you throw some highlights on what am I paying 40ped for each way between planets?[/quote]

[quote]Will hangars and their spaceships be offiacially tradeable then?[/quote]

[quote]Will the teleporting between planets allways be available?[/quote]

[quote]Will every planet ( including Michael) bring additional hangars which serve as launching platforms for their pilots?[/quote]

[quote]What happened to the Harbinger event? I mean it never had a conclusion? Will it have one soon? What about our diplomas? [/quote]Answer was that the war is not over, but nothing about this particular question…

[quote]How about some skill bonus event again?[/quote]

[quote]How many full time staff will there be working on Planet Calypso?[/quote]20% is not really an answer as it’s not a real number…

[quote]How many staff on planet michael?[/quote]

[quote] In the development of Calypso what do you plan to develop?[/quote]Question is a bit vague, but I think the intention is to ask what the roadmap is for 2011, and what the priorities are. They did answer this by more or less saying they don’t know, I think?

[quote] In which order will these parts of calypso be developed?[/quote]

*** DOWN TO #4 IN QUESTIONS SO FAR… WILL ADD MORE LATER. FEEL FREE TO ADD MORE BEFORE I DO IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT.

Also, can anyone find the original 2007 question list to see which ones were passed over?
***

of course… what’s the point, lol…

http://allartists.wikispaces.com/

http://allartists.wikispaces.com/ is a new wiki I started today. I plan to add more to it on a regular basis, and grow it to be a gigantic list of artists both future and past, both greats and lesser knowns. Since it’s a wiki anyone can edit it. Feel free to add to it at any time. This is growing a project I’ve started because I think places like wikipedia, and most art history books are a bit biased in what and who they include and do not include.

The point of this is to create a list of every artist that we can find anything about. Since visual arts is my thing, I’m starting there, but over time it might be highly possible to add musical arts, and other art types there. I want this thing to be come a hugely comprehensive list that will be usable by the masses for various purposes. Art students and art historians doing research papers could use it as a starting place for doing research. Art collectors could use it to find up and coming artists. Art galleries could use it to find artists and ways to contact them. Artists themselves can use the wiki to link to their home pages, study trends, get inspiration, etc.

more old sketchbook stuff.

Working on scanning more old sketchbooks, but I’m not sure if I’ll upload them or not since half of them are not completely readable, and some of them are old rpg stuff and dream journals that might not make a lot of sense to others then me… but we’ll see. I’ll have to look over it all and decide if I want it all here or not.

3d Handheld Battle Axe

I uploaded a 3d handheld battle axe that I created in Lightwave today to Turbosquid. It can be found at http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/566053?referral=mastermesh

Here’s what this object looks like:

a dream…

I think this is the first time I’ve ever used this blog to record a dream. I used to keep dream journals way back in college, but didn’t keep them much after college for some reason. Anyways – the dream I had, which is why I’m now up — Tekla and I were in a small dorm room type of apartment. There was some rustling out in the hallway. Peeking out the door, which was not locked, I saw several people that lived in the apartments down the hall and across from us there in the hallway… looking down… near the bottom of the doorway, just outside of the door, there was a couple of the younger people in the group of about 8 or so handling a number of squiggling worms. I felt highly offended because it seemed as though they were trying to put the worms under the door to let them in to our room/apartment. There was some sort of fear about squishing the worms since some were black and some were nromal pinkish colored earthworms. … so they might be poisonous on some level?

The reason I awoke – after we thought we’d killed them all, and the college aged kids out in the hall had left, and we had gone back to bed, one of the half dead ones that had been flung on the floor inside of the apartment in the scuffle was still moving, and a blackish furry one that looked like a catepiller sort of had crawled on my back, near my shoulder blades… this was reality kicking in with dreams because when I awoke, laying on my side, I was having problems breathing, and could feel tingling sensations in my upper back, neck and shoulder blade areas. The place with the most tingling was where that darn worm was crawling in the dream.

I usually cannot remember dreams, but when I awake from dreams due to physical reasons like this, I do sometimes remember them. In college in order to facilitate remembering dreams more often then I normally could do, I would sleep with the lights on, and cover my eyes, or block the light from them with little blanket mountains near my head. The instant transformation from dark to light would caused shock of awakening the concious mind enough that it was able to capture the main elements of the subconsious dream, but I had to write darn fast to make the real elements of the dreams appear on the dream journal — waiting seconds too long would allow the now highly active conscious mind to make up details of the dream that were not really in the dream, but are logical enough they could have plausibly been in there… a half a minute or so is all this would take to happen before the “new brain” would cover the details the “old brain” made in the dream so to speak. … keeping dream journals as I did in college helped me to realize that dreams are really the subconscious mind playing around with elements of reality, whether it is various images and scenes actually seen, or the physical reality of pain in slumber — an emergency 911 type of call to the self from the unconscious mind for self protection to keep the self from going in to cardiac arrest, etc.

…………
Today (actually yesterday now that it’s after 1 am) I was reading about Jung and Freud a bit. Jung’s idea(s) about individualism are similar to the idea of the Holy Guardian Angel/seeking the true self in various religions/and Imago idea in Harville Hendrix’s books that I mentioned in this blog before somewhat.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/1452091/CARL-JUNG

Jung’s idea about the psychic unconscious and the future, etc. is something I remember having a bit of a keen interest in when I took psychology class in college. It’s that weird element of religion, mythology, psychology, art, alchemy, and other things that is somewhat similar to a lot of ideas/themes, etc. that roll around in my head sometimes that draws me towards sort of identifying with him on a lot of different levels.

Some of the links I have on facebook posted tonight and links in delicious from the last few days are about art therapy, psychology, and a really interesting Nam June Paik reading in Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art book that I like to read a lot now and then to get in to the mindset behind what a lot of various artists have done/where thinking about at various times when they created art. The Art and Satellite (1984) reading is the one I’m talking about. Lots of interesting things in there…

at one point it says, “There is no rewind button on the betamax of life. An important event takes place only once. The free deaths (of Socrates, Christ, Bo Yi and Shu Qu) that became the foundations for the morality of three civilizations occurred only once.”

Then it goes on to talk about how art in the future will need to integrate various parts of the world like satellites do sort of… electronic signals bouncing around connecting different parts of the world, in the same way that electric signals in neurons bouncing around in our brains and bodies make us work… a hodge podge of pieces working together in cohesivly.

That’s a pretty deep sort of thing to think about… sort of reminds me of the weird idea of the thetan alien germs bouncing around in what I read about scientology and posted about here before on some level.

The truth is I think we all are somewhat connected… with ourselves in the conscious/unconscious way and with others on some levels, which might be psychic on some levels.

I remember reading something in some literature class once about how the indians see the same stories played over and over throughout time… same story a different take on it with different characters all doing the same thing – that’s the sort of stuff I think Jung was talking/thinking about… it’s something we can all relate to as a sort of unconscious collective. It’s something that makes the blogsphere go round… It’s something that keeps news channels full of stories 24/7. It’s something that makes us all relate to one another empathically. It’s something that keeps religions going.

We all want to feel the connections and connectivity between ourselves, our world, and our conscious and unconscious minds. We are not single beings, but multiple parts working together as a single being, so who is to say God isn’t somewhat similar — or maybe God’s dreaming state is like that… which is our entire universe/multiverse/megaverse… maybe Buddhist/Zen has it right and reality is just a dream. I think there is a bit more to it then that, but that line of thought is somewhat similar to what I think Jung was grasping at… and it is somewhat similar to what Nam June Paik was getting at too…

we all are interrellated and see the diamond that is the world from different angles. War does not have to happen any more then people have to hit themselves in self-mutilation when they are thinking thoughts that betray their religion, etc.

The harmony and peace of coexistence is something we should strive for within ourselves and our worldwide society. Constant bickering and disagreement are ok… it’s ok to agree to disagree. What is not ok is when you try to force your ideas on others. You cannot control the other, nor should you. Even those imprisoned have their own brians, own thoughts, own reality that is different then the reality the prison guard is trying to enforce upon them. If we would all start thinking about this sort of stuff more, maybe the amount of wars in the world would decrease. Maybe the violence and idiocy would lower…

Maybe there could be real world peace like Jesus was striving for, like Socrates hinted at, etc. Maybe we can stop the hatred, violence, and people trying to find themselves but doing so in silly ways by trying to push their ideas on others and come to a real harmonious concensus…

I know, I know… lots of typos here… keep in mind is’t 1:30 now and I’m tired and trying to think all of this through, lol. I might put some of my old dream journaling on this blog someday, but am not sure if I will or not. Anyways, I guess I’ll try to go to bed now. Lots of interesting stressful things coming up later today/this morning at work… stuff I need a little more rem time to get between now and then in order to be able to deal with it in a logical manner..

Good night/morning. Have a great day. Stop trying to push your thoughts on to others. Part of the focus of art is to leave things open to interpretation on some level. Just because you see things your way does not mean your mind about it won’t be changed a bit later on, or that you have the whole picture.. so stop trying to push your interpretation of things off on others as the only true and right way to see it.

a few poems… simple and complex.

=======================
===LUMPS IN THE DIRT===
=======================
———————–
new brick walls…
new lumps in dirt.

Quadrangles are now triangles.

CHANGES, CHANGES, CHANGES..

Rec center is now 4 times bigger.
Construction everywhere.

CHANGES, CHANGES, CHANGES…

The new garage is really huge.
The new facades are really fake.

CHANGES CHANGES CHANGES…
ALWAYS CHANGING.

but,
The art hall remains the same…
always dirty, always grimy, always in need of repair.

MU’s wasted money…

Says the Millionare
as he passes through the
doors that bear his name.

———————-
Creativity stifled.
Funds are now dried up.
changes everywhere.
———————-

==========================
===REMEMBERING LONG AGO===
==========================
Gone are the days of wandering
around the Ville at night
Gone are the days of wandering
a camera without a light
gone are the days of wandering
paintbrush in my hand
gone are the days of wandering
throughout all of the land

running barefoot in the groves
through the pavement
on the concrete and the stone

10 years and more have passed
time pushes on…

History and Present Clash.

Time to begin the new song.

Time to follow the new path.

singing in the rain
watching the clouds again.

prisms of light and dark.
The greys, greens, blues, violets,

and of course the reds, purples, and
hazy darkness behind the trees so
brilliant red

Don’t forget the Oranges too.
—————————–

=========================
==DISTANCE IN THE DARK===
=========================
In to the night
we shall traverse

far
and
close

only

a
flicker
of
light
between

a small dim yellow flick
or maybe a currelean dab

as the night screen closes in
with ultramarine and precious
prussian blues.

—————————–

==============================
===LITTLE WHITE BUNNY TALES===
==============================
Where the fuck did that go?
Never God Damned Mind.

The cursing times…

Hide the tounge
The kids are near.

Hide the truth
Bring out the Lies

It’s Santa’s time.

Tooth faires sprinkling
different colored glitter
all around…

Why’s the colors different mom?

H377 if I know… Oh no…

I mean… darling dear,
oh me, oh my.

Let me tell you some more lies.
==========================

======================
=======GAPS===========
======================
Gaps between the poems
make you stop and think

times to reflect
times to remember
times to pause

and think.
======================

======================
=====SLOW DEATH=======
=======================
you are alive and well
you are sick and ill

the coughs of sick old
middle aged people
coming from their kids

all life is a poem…
REFRAIN is not far away

sound of the
busy bees working away
in their prison cells

those little things called
cubicles…
=======================

==========================
=====Cube cell hell=======
======ever binding========
======ever grinding=======

10 punch numbers worn off

keyboards dusty for years.

Counting down the days
til the weekends is here.

and freedom from these 4 walls
is clear… at least a while.
============================

http://www.marshallarisman.com/

http://www.marshallarisman.com/ – Marshall Arisman is an illustrator who’s works I have liked for quite some time. His works are somewhat simple, but also are rather disturbing. I think his original theme/idea was mainly to combine the human form with metal or robotic type of images.. a sort of bionic illustration genre, really sci-fi type of thing. I like his works because they deal with our humanity… and the ultimate issue of death, and what death might mean, both now and in the future. His use of bold color schemes like black and red makes his works really pop out and catch your eye. The images are so strange and wonderful, they tend to haunt you. That makes you think. All great works of art make you think…

muhealth: RT @mumedicine: Dr. Lenworth Johnson, MU neuro-ophthalmologist, is MSNBC black history maker: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35333565/nPage/1

muhealth: RT @mumedicine: Dr. Lenworth Johnson, MU neuro-ophthalmologist, is MSNBC black history maker: http://ping.fm/aZEqW http://bit.ly/9xmA2v

———————-
Learn more about Black History

This weekend…

This weekend, if I find some time, I’m going to work on scanning more drawings from the ol’ sketchbooks and posting them in to the Artfolio Category here in the blog. There’s still lots of art that I don’t have online yet, lol! 🙂 😉

Eventually, if I get everything online, I’ll just keep making more and always scanning it in on the weekends or whatever free time I can find.

If nothing else, this at least helps get my name out there, and helps you folks see some stuff I’ve done in the past. All artwork any artists creates has something from his or her past involved in it in some way… It’s important to know where we’ve been so we know where we are, and where we are heading.

Hopefully this blog is helping you, as well as myself, discover, or rediscover where I’ve been… then you and I can put the pieces together to see where I stand now… and I can ultimately arrive at some really interesting and difficult questions about where I’m heading.

Maria’s getting another apartment. Loooong history…

This post is a lot longer than I thought it would be… what’s sad is a lot of details aren’t in here… a lot has happened in the last couple of years in Entropia Universe for my avatar… there’s enough plots and stuff in here and all that’s been going on with the NBK on the forums at Entropia Forum to make an entire mini-series or 19 of them, lol…
——
Maria mastermesh Mesh is about to purchase a second apartment again. She previously had 2 of them… but sold off one a few days ago. Now she’s getting a second one since it’ll be on the same floor as the one that she already has.

There’s a lot of history… now here a little back story for those of you that are in to reading about that sort of stuff…

In the Pre-Maria Days, I had heard of Entropia Universe, via Slashdot.org. However, it sounded like a crazy idea… then… there was this one post about some guy named Deathifier that had spent a lot and earned it all back… and another guy named Neverdie that had spent even more, and earned it all back… so then Maria came in to being…

Yes, the hype was mostly hype, but it was an interest way to spend time and some small amounts of money as I was home on weekends as my wife worked then… and a few months prior to that time, a casino had opened a few blocks away from where we lived… At the casino I could blow through 30 dollars in less than 20 minutes. IN Entropia Universe, I could survive on 30 dollars hunting snablesnots for a month, so it seemed like an interesting thing…

Maria started out her life in Entropia Universe as a poor homeless citizen, like all avatars are when they first begin the game, with nothing more on her back than an orange jumpsuit.

Then, Maria sweated a lot and finally got a little income through that. She also shortly got an income from a deposit from an Earthling and took up hunting. She axed her way across two continents with a few 2×0 axes that got bloodied up pretty fast and needed repair. Maria found that the axes were not very economic weapons eventually (no Skill Increase Bonus – SIB)…

Then, Maria took up hunting with a rifle. Her trusty rifle accompanied her everywhere. Her favorite hunting spots were, and still are locations that are not real busy spots. Prior to the recolonization of Calypso (Version Update 10), she hunted a lot around Fort Argus, Fort Zeus, North of Fort Ithica and radom other spots on occassion.

She no longer hunts much to the east of Argus since it is now a Player vs Player (PvP) Zone. She does still travel north of Argus on occassion. She’s also found a new hunting location that did not exist prior to the recolonization – EOS. She loves hunting Foul in the hills between EOS and Athena Space Base.

Back in the early days, Maria loved trading, and joined the Entropia Forum Dollar Growth Fund (EFD Growth Fund) Smart Trade Terminal Solution (STTS), and thought about joining Entropia Investment Fund (EIF).

STTS only existed for a short time and now no longer exists. EFD Growth Fund still exists on the forums at Entropia Forum. If you are a regular over there, you might think about joining the fund since the only investment requirement is Entropia Forum Dollars, not real money – although it is possible to buy or invest real peds to get EFD in that fund…

Luckily, Maria never joined EIF since they sunk a lot of money in to investments such as Land Areas, a mall shop, and a hanger, all of which have zero Trade Terminal Value. If Maria had bought in to that fund, her money would now be gone with little to no way of getting the money back since the EIF still exists but has no plans on ever selling out for any time in the near future it appears, so all peds that went in to those investments are now gone… The investments are bringing EIF some money, but it’s arguable how much since it’s likely that the original investment money is gone unless they ever sell their invested money, which they have no plans on doing… so until they get that money back, they have lost a lot of cash… Unfortunately, sometimes, to get ahead on Calypso that it is required to make big investments like that. I still think the EIF is extremely risky since there is no such thing as multiple owners of an asset in EU, and everything is based on trust. If the Fund manager dies or something, the assets he holds can be considered gone like the wind, along with all the Project Entropia Dollars (PEDs) that various individuals put in that invested in that stuff through the EIF.

Maria also thought about joining MMA Bigshow in his quest to create Entropia Holdings at one point in time. However, MMA is no longer in game, so Maria is glad she did not do that. MMA’s cockiness got the entire community irritated at him in the forums at entropia forum, even though he really probably had some ok ideas… I guess if you are martial artists that fights all the time, you might get too aggressive sometimes… and that may reflect in other areas of your life…

Maria jumped around to several different societies in the beginning of her journeys. For a while she was in The American Soldier (TAS), where she met some nice friends, including big Dodge Ram, and Fillipe Castanhas, among others.

Later, TAS was disbanded, and Fillippe talked Maria in to joining Entropia Asia Cadets (EAC), which was a cadet society for Entropia Asia. Maria was not Asian but joined anyways because some of her friends were there. Shortly thereafter EAC got blackmailed a little – one member of the society (I won’t name names here) bought a dot com for the Entropia Asia… and did so without consenting with anyone… in part because he ran an ISP… it was a nice site with it’s own forum and things… but wasn’t that great… Later, the higher ups in the society were asked to pay for that domain or something (not sure about all the details since I was a lowly cadet)… and the leaders of EAC broke off to start Zoku instead of staying as a cadet society for EA. At that time Cadets were given a choice – either stay in a dead cadet society, join Zoku, join EA, or go off on their own way. Maria decided to join Entropia Asia because Vortezy, Bryon, and some of the other folks over there were nice, and helpful.

Shortly after that, Maria went silent for 9 months because all deposits and activity from earth that powered her dissappeared (VU updates caused me not to be able to log in for 9 months til I got new hardware… could not even get past the login screen with the ol ATI-All-In-Wonder 9000 Pro and pentium III…).

When Maria awakend from her 9 month slumber, she was still EA, but it was a nearly dead society at least for her part of the world… There were still Asians in the society, but being located in the States, I could not see people in my society unless I stayed up til 3 am… which was a bad situation…

Maria decided to change directions if she was going to continue to survive on Calypso… so I started reading the forums… and I read them A LOT… Over time, I started thinking it’d be neat to cut some deals with shop owners, so I started studying the entropia forum and looking around at various shop owner’s avatars and visiting various terminals in game to see who owned what estates, etc. As a result, Maria met a lot of folks that owned shops in the Port Atlantis Mall and a few other places and befriended quite a few of them. She started trading things at Trade Terminal (TT) Value to some of those folks, including Nihilist, who happens to run EFD Growth Fund. Nihilist sort of became Maria’s mentor in the ways of running a shop successfully in game. He ran, and still runs a consignment shop called Dead Man’s Plunder… He buys things at TT value, trys to sell it in his shop, then pays back a percentage of profits…

Maria bought tons of things off of the auction for him, paying TT value for it. Some got accepted, others rejected. The rejected stuff, Maria did not know what to do with it… so she started trading it. Around this time, Vortexy, which is one of the leaders of EA started handing Maria lots of blueprints to sell too since he was crafting a lot… so she’d go sell his blueprints at Port Atlantis near the TP… and would also sell whatever else he handed her… she was a pretty good scounger in those days. She cut a few deals and met lots of traders… She actually started a non-society guild called United Buyers Exchange Resource (U.B.E.R.) and traded things to and from a lot of folks at TT values back then. It was fun and games, and no losses really since TT value was always growing, or getting traded off for something else to sell. STTS took that idea to a new level, but Josh Edwards (who ran STTS) only sold via auction, so he actually lost a lot of potential profit… and cost people that worked with him 100% of auction fees + 30% of the profits on top of that… pretty steep cost, but it was all junk people normally sold to the TT anyways, so it was not a bad deal… Maria eventually got in to that as an investor, and urged Josh to stop using the auction and get in to using a shop or something… He never listened, so she sold off her investment and moved on… There is still a massive void in EU that STTS filled that should be filled by someone, but is not currently being filled by anyone, so stuff gets sold in to the TT and avatars in the entire community get poorer and poorer because of that…

Around that time, NBK Entrepreneurs was formed by Hardwrath, someone who used to be leader of NBK, but had also been in a deep slumber, like Maria. Maria liked the enticing sound of being in NBK E, since she wanted to change her focus towards running a business and not being a ped loosing hunter the rest of her life… so she joined NBK Entrepreneurs… it got active about a year, had lots of great people in it – several shop owners (some of which Maria had brought in due to her U.B.E.R contacts, including Nihilist), an Land Area owner, and lots of traders… and some of the best crafters in all of the virtual universe…

Eventually though, a lot of the crafters wanted to do their own thing and focus on cutting deals with miners, so NBK Miners started, and NBK E was more or less abandoned by all but Maria and a few other dedicated folks. After that NBK E was forced by NBK leadership to become NBK Otium. Otium means “at ease.”

The idea from leadership is that Otium should be a place for the retired avatars to go that don’t fit in any other NBK society… a while before then, Nihilist quit because the promises that Hardwrath had made with a steady supply line being created when NBK E. first started out was never really brought in to being – it was, but only to benefit skilling crafters and miners, not shop owners… This and a lot of other things going on caused Otium to exist. I still am not sure I like otium since it sounds an awful like like Opium… but it’s started to grow on me a bit… sort of nice to not be under pressure to skill or cut business deals all the time even though I’m still doing some of each…

Anyways, at some point in time, prior to the recolonization, Maria purchased an apartment in Treasure Island. It was Apartment 10A in the Silver Building. The “Stack Exchange” was there, which was a service Maria ran to trade stacks of items among a lot of different individuals. Maria also had 2 shopkeepers that more money that magically appeared on her pedcard from a transfer from earth allowed her to buy. The real purpose behind the Stack Exchange was to get people in to the apartment to look at the shopkeepers and buy things. A few events were done with the NBK (Maria’s society)

Eventually, Maria bought a booth in the basement of the Delta Tower at Omegaton West Habitat… and bought Apartment 1A in the Delta Tower too… Those funds from earth helped her to make that happen…

and the Stack Exchange became the NBK TT shop… when Maria bought out the old NBK TT shop’s inventory and moved it in…

Then a few months later, the Treasure Island Silver apartment deed was traded for a deed to Apartment 4A in the Delta Tower… so Maria had 2 apartments and a booth all in the Delta Tower… 4A, 1A and Booth #3. She moved the NBK TT Shop and shopkeepers to the 1A apartment.. but that business never took off since the booth and shopkeepers were hidden away and not visible… then Maria moved everything out of the NBK TT shop apartment and converted it to a blueprint shop since NBK folks and others were continuing to TT Maria blueprints along with other things…

Then Maria did something radical and traded the two shopkeepers and booth in for the Shop 1 in Block A in Delta because the guy that owned that place, Rufwon, had been trying to sell it for a long time… Maria felt sorry for Rufwon and also found the idea of being visible from outside of the building to be nice…

So the Lost Library was established in Block A, Shop 1 of Delta Tower in Omegaton West Habitat. Maria owned Aparment 1A in the same building and 4A as well..

about 2 weeks ago, she sold 4A…

and now one of the folks that is selling blueprints in the Lost Library, who sniped 1D from Maria in an Auction at time when Maria was a little poor, is wanting to sell 1D…

So going Forwards, Maria mastermesh Mesh will own Apartments 1A and 1D, as well as Block A – Shop 1 in the Delta at Omegaton West Habitat. There’s also potential to eventually buy the booth back or buy another booth too, leaving lots of room to expand the shop at some point in the future, both horizontally, and vertically at some point in the future… The costs of expanding looks way too pricey right now, but I’m going to hold the deeds because that price may not look so bad in the future… I never thought that 2 years ago I’d join the NBK, much less own an estate… or three estates!!!… You never know what will happen in the virtual universe… the future is bright now that I have 3 estates in the same building… lots of potential room to grow eventually, even if the costs aren’t justified for that growth yet… Hopefully I can find a way to make that justification change and get profitable at the same time! 🙂

Color Pallette… Color Blindness… When is a something done?

I have mentioned color pallette in a few postings already, but don’t think I’ve gone in to a lot of detail about my personal preferences in my own color uses, why I have those preferences, etc. so I figured it might be time to post a little bit about that here, even though most of the stuff that I’m uploading to the artfolio is not color yet – It’s mainly black and white or blue and white sketchbook scans for now, but I’ll get around to uploading the color works later, and at that time, it’ll be good to know a little about my use of color.

For those of you that don’t know this yet, I am partially color blind. Greens and Reds that are medium toned or darker tend to look alike to me, which appears to be the same color as a grey color (just black and white) tone of the same value. Luckily, I’m not fully color blind, or else this little issue would have a much more major impact on my artwork than it does now. Bright reds, and greens are very visible to me. It’s only the darker tones that are usually seen in shadows that make things a bit difficult for me.

Because of this, I have a tendency to drive myself towards pointillism type of styles, or similar types of styles that use visual color mixing instead of real color mixing, at least in this part of the color spectrum. That way, I can move in very close to the canvas, and look at what is going on with the color blobs up close and personal to try to resolve issues and create a plan of attack to figure out what move to make next in this chess game of creating art.

Eye strain headaches does come to me after a while of doing this sort of stuff, especially since I’m near sighted… because I’m constantly looking at different areas of the painting, or color drawings at a distance, and then up close, and then at a distance, and maybe upside down to check composition, etc. I did not even realize I needed glasses for my near-sightedness until after I graduated from college, but I really should have probably gotten glasses a very long time before that. My dad loves transitions lenses and got me hooked on using them since they keep me from having to constantly buy sunglasses only to lose them. However, the transition lenses do cause me problems when making art and viewing art sometimes since they put a dark tone on everything I see through them. Because of that, I have to take off my glasses to view things in museums, galleries, or as I paint sometimes so that I’m not making major color/tonal mistakes. That causes even more eye strain on occassion. I do like the transition lenses since my eyes are pretty sensitive to light, and they make staring at a computer all day at my 40 hour a week job more tolerable. However, I hate that they cause me to not be able to see a lot of true colors at a distance… All through school, I remember squinting a lot in painting classes and drawing classes. I just assumed that this was normal at the time since I had never thought to check with a vision specialist. I knew that I was color blind, and just sort of assumed that the squinting and headaches were a normal part of the process of creating art. I sometimes wonder how things would have been different if I had glasses way back in elementatry school….
Strangely, all of this does not have a huge impact on viewers of my work because a lot of artists use green to muddy down red and vice versa to get shadow colors and tones as they are on opposite ends of the color spectrum.

My favorite colors are somewhat bright and intense. As mentioned in another post, I love the color pallette that folks like Remington use, where there’s lots of vividness to the work and it sort of brings a positive cheery mood in to play.

I like mixing colors on the canvas itself visually more than a lot of other painters do. I do mix colors when I can but like using paint staight out of the bottle when possible so that it’s easier to come back to an area and re-work it or balance it out with similar colors on opposite ends of the canvas if I need to… Stuff that comes out of a bottle is usually mixed fairly closely to other stuff that comes out of a bottle that has the same label and is made by the same company. That makes it easier to not have a lot of worries about painting an area and then needing more of that same paint mix later, but not being able to find it because you cannot figure out the exact proportions of which paint you mixed to arrive at that color, especially when, like me, you are color blind so physicially mixing the paint is a very difficult chore. That label on the bottles of paint helps ease my mind in making decisions since I know that the green in that bottle is the same green that I got out of that bottle an hour ago. Pointillism type effects can be used to help mix and match just about any color that exists, at least at a certain distance.

My favorite oil paint colors are usually Cadmium Red (for bright bold red intensity), Crimson Red (for darker red tones and colors), Currealean Blue (for highlights that are in blue – lots of artists are afraid to use blue in highlights, which is a huge loss to their works), Cobalt Blue (for mid-intensity blues), Prussian Blue (for really deep dark blues), and occassionally a very bright yellow, and maybe something strange like violet, which can be very bright and noticible if applied thickly or almost unnoticible if applied thinly with the rest of the colors mentioned above, either scumbled on or put in to small dabs in small pointillism type fields of color on the canvas. I also use just about any other color out there that I can on occassion in small bits, but the colors listed above are the main ones that I usually end up utilizing the most. Most of my works usually end up heading toward red/blue side of the color spectrum because of that. There’s just something about Purple/Violet combinations or near-purple violet that is reached by visual color mixing that I really love – it’s a deep passionate, and dramatic color scheme.

I have a bad tendency to sometimes fall in to the elementary color trap that many artists fall in to on occasions, thinking of blue as dark/cool, red as bright/midrange, and orange for brighter areas than that, and yellows for highlights, instead of really looking at the way things are in reality and trying to match it as closely as possible – where all areas of the color spectrum exist in both bright and dark areas. I do try to balance out that fallacy, which is not always a true representation of reality when I can, but it’s usually a lengthy process since I try to put more and more color range in to both shadows and highlights as I proceed throughout a color pencil drawing or painting — many times I fail horribly and overwork the artwork. It’s hard to know when a work of art is “done.” There are defintitely “levels of doneness” as I like to think of them to any work of art…

Simple abstract forms with simple lines is the first level. The second level takes that and adds more tones or patterned areas to break up the light and dark more. The third level balances things out more and more, making the really complex patterns more worked out with brush stroke placement becoming one of the most important aspects of the work – a small line that’s the wrong color in the wrong place can unbalance everything and cause compositional balance to completely dissappear. Then, on the next level, things really start getting complex… as Professor Bohac used to say, that’s when it’s time for an artist to “fight their way out of a paper bag…” because a simple little thing that’s as wide as a centimeter or smaller can unbalance the entire work…. and as paintings start coming to a level of “reality” that is almost near photo-quality things get even more complex, and the “living elements” of the work start dissappearing more and more… The more realistic a painting gets to be, in terms of photo-realism, the less gestural qualities the work has… Artists, especially those that work with narrative, portrait, or landscape subjects can find themselves in hard to get out of places with their works as they get in to internal conflict about “how realistic” to make the work… since each level of realism requires more work on the entire canvas…

A simple line drawing done in 30 seconds or less can be thought of as a final work of beautiful art just as a photo-realistic painting that took thousands of hours to create can… Any and Everything in between these two extremes is where most artist live. It’s a very dangerous rocky terrain with a lot of smooth valleys full of beautiful smelling flowers. It takes a true artist to know how to balance it all out and make sure that the level of realism is right for the work in question, and each individual area of each work’s composition in question. There’s a different answer for each artists and each individual work.

As I post more artworks in to this blog, I’ll try to explain my own individual tendencies, techniques, and ways of doing things to get my works to where I want them. It is often said that an artist is his/her own most critical judge. I agree with that somewhat. However, that judgement is what makes us who we are, and makes us strive to do better in the future, or to strive to make horrible and hideously disgusting works that cause fear in the hearts of mankind…. It’s all about figuring things out and making them work… knowing the messages you are trying to communicate and trying to find ways to make those messages clear. For me compositional balance is a very important thing. For others, maybe not so much. I’ll try to post more artwork here in the blog later this week.

Inspirations – Anselm Kiefer

Another couple of great and inspiring works that I found at the Modern Museum of Art in Fort Worth, Texas were Anselm Kiefer’s Book with Wings

, and Die Aschenblume.

I have always been a fan of Kiefer’s works. The first work that I ever saw of his is located in the St. Louis Museum of Art, Breaking of the Vessels.

Kiefer’s work is gigantic, and epic, but also sublime and simple. It questions history, and our place in it. It takes Germanic Expressionism to a whole new level. It brings the painting/sculptures to the people, quite literally… It calls to mind the supernatural and makes us think about why it is, what our relationship is with it. It makes us question our reality and opens our minds to thinking about things more. I could write tons about the psychology behind Kiefer’s works, but think many great authors have already done so over and over, so I’ll leave you to explore their ideas on your own time.

Kiefer’s works are something that you need to experience in person. The hugeness of the works, and strange physicality to the works is something that digital photos and art books do absolutely no justice to.

Anselm Kiefer is a master of mixing physical things in to his paint and integrating sculpture in to his painterly works. Frank Stella is the only artist I know of that has works that combine 2d and 3d elements in such strange combinations that they start to come close to the mastery that Kiefer has over this realm. However, Stella’s works are typically pretty happy colors from the pretty happy rainbows that the pop world embraces while Kiefer’s is made of the mud-like dreary colors that are true dramatic tragedies that explore the psychological world a heck of a lot more in-depth than Stella’s simple facades ever can.

I’d love to do artwork the size of Anselm Kiefer’s most popular works, but don’t because the sheer enormity of such works make storage a gigantic problem unless the works are going directly in to museums and galleries. Taking photos of the works is also problematic because of the huge size. A photo just does not do these sort of works any justice since there is so much more to the works than a simple photo can capture.

Fort Worth…

Last weekend, I went to Forth Worth, Texas to visit my Brother, Sister-in-law, and my niece. They live down there, and this was really the first time that I’ve had a chance to visit there or see them for over a year. It’s a great cultural city to visit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth,_Texas

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth has some outstanding works of art. The entry fee is a bit steep compared to some similar Museums elsewhere (that’s bad because it puts off a lot of would be Museum goers in the general public – such as my sister and parents who I was staying in a hotel room with, lol.), but when we were there, the fee was half off as half of the Museum was closed (Warhol Exhibit was in the process of being put up, so they had a lot of rooms blocked off), so it was not too bad.

Kimbell Art Museum is literally across the street from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. It’s definitely worth a visit, especially now that they have Michelangelo’s First Painting back on display.

We did not see the Private Collection of Texas there unfortunately (as mentioned above, my parents, and sister don’t like spending too much on entry fees to museums since they don’t always understand art and find walking around in museums to be boring sometimes – Hey, like I said in previous posts, part of the reason I’m uploading scans and photos of my artwork is to protect it from mishandling by those around me, lol. Luckily, if I ever do die, my artwork will likely end up in the hands of my loving spouse, Tekla, who has a much greater appreciation of the arts than some of our other relatives…)

While in Fort Worth, we also had time to see the Amon Carter Museum which is only about 2 blocks from the other two Museums mentioned above. The view of downtown from the Amon is amazing. I might upload a photo of that that I took here if I can find it…. The exhibits on display were amazing. I loved the photo exhibit, and the Remington and Russell exhibit. I think of Remington as one of my favorites art inspirations in the wide world of illustration. His drawing technique, use of forshortning, and vivid and bright color scheme are some of the many things that I try to emulate in my own paintings and illustrations when I can. That sort of bringing the world of the painting to life in color and form is something I find very inspiring, even if some of his themes and subject matter eventually turned fairly cliche.

While in town, we also wandered around the stockyards a while. There was a major livestock show going on at the time, along with a carnival and there were horses all over the streets down there. I didn’t know this sort of thing happened regularly in the middle of January. I guess the 60 degree weather justifies it. It was sickening to come back to Missouri’s 30 degree weather and massive amount of fog…

History of Caligari… and a little 3d industry history.

This is all ancient news to those that pay attention to the 3d industry, but I’m posting here anyways just for folks that may not be aware…

http://www.caligari.com/company/timelinenew.asp?Subcate=Company&SubV=Timeline

1982, Roman Ormandy defects from Czechoslovakia and spends three years in New York. Starting in the shipping department of a suitcase factory making Apple suitcases, he breaks into the PC business.

1985, Roman attends Siggraph ’85 in San Francisco. He admires the SGI workstations, but buys an Amiga PC and the trueSpace vision is born!

1986, Video tape of Caligari prototype is displayed in Commodore’s booth at 1986 Siggraph which generates tremendous interest. Octree Corporation is founded, setting out to revolutionize the 3D marketplace.

1988, Caligari1, one of the first 3D visualization products for the Amiga is released. It does not do much yet but it has a novel interface and integrated workspace.

1990, Caligari2 is released for the Amiga. Positioned as a design and video production tool, it supports photorealistic rendering and “real time response to all user actions”. (2Mb of RAM required)

1991, Caligari Broadcast sports animated deformations, sweep tools, interactive spline based hierarchical animations, a visual time editor and resolution up to 8000×8000.

1992, Caligari24 is released with upgraded features such as 32Bit color, organic deformations and further improvements in perspective interface. It soon becomes clear, however, that MS Windows would become the standard operating platform.

1993, Octree moves from New York to the Silicon Valley. Leaving the East Coast behind, it designs a new software architecture and changes its name to Caligari Corporation.

1994, trueSpace, powerful, usable 3D graphics and animation for Windows is released. It changes the landscape of the 3D market with the first integrated 3D animation and modeling package.

1995, trueSpace2 is released to receive critical acclaim and industry awards. It is the first 3D software to support 3D acceleration, alas no 3D accelerators are shipped at the time.

1996, Pioneer is released as the 1st VRML authoring tool integrated with a built-in browser. Wins critical acclaim but VRML fails to live up to user expectations.

1997, trueSpace3 builds upon the excellence and ease-of-use legacy by integrating VRML, inverse kinematics, physics, metaballs, 3D paint and collision detection. More awards follow.

1998, trueSpace4 – Born to Accelerate. 8th generation and a major step forward in 3D authoring, trueSpace4 closes the gap between high end and ease of use.

2000, iSpace – a web graphics tool that enables the creation of stunning 3D graphics in HTML and Flash format. It delivers photorealistic web sites and uses simple drag&drop interface.

2001, trueSpace5 – Reality Designer, providing designers access to an affordable and powerful 3D design tool for all stages of the creative process including conceptual design.

2002, trueSpace6 improves workflow and professional design tools like layers and deform tools. It also reduces repetitive tasks through arrays, mirror modeling and more, making everything from modeling to final render, faster and simpler than ever before.

2003, trueSpace6.6 – introduces non-linear animation, and improved physical simulation. Workflow and modeling are further enhanced, keeping trueSpace the ideal choice for animation, design, illustration and game creation.

2003, gameSpace – 3D content creation for game development software and game engines, based on the trueSpace6.6 core and providing tailored modeling and animation tools, import and export, at a realistic price point. 2006, truePlay – free application to allow anyone to enter the shared 3D spaces, for collaboration with colleagues, friends and peers.

2006, trueSpace7 – introduces a whole new software core, which includes the first ever collaborative workspace that allows people to work together in the same shared 3D space. V-Ray renderer, new DX9 real-time view, and new scripting, physics and procedural objects also introduced.

2007, trueSpace7.5 – expands on the tools introduced in trueSpace7, adding better character animation, and more tools in the new workspace aspect of the program.

2008, Caligari and Microsoft join forces – Now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, Caligari is able to release trueSpace7.6 for free. With further expansions and improvements to the tools, now anyone can make professional 3D at no cost

It’s been interesting seeing this company come to life, and die by being bought by one of the biggest companies around. Caligari was a neat startup. Unfortunately, a lot of neat startups get gobbled up by gigantic corporations. This is just one of the latest examples of this in the 3d industry…

Autodesk and Adobe are too other giants that eat their competition like Microsoft did with Caligari, and other companies are too to various degrees..

Alias bought Kaydara in 2004. Kaydara had created some awesome software called Motionbuilder, and they actually were selling it to individual artist very cheaply. Go check out the history of it on the forums at 3d buzz… Back when I got my personal edition from Kaydara itself it costs about 100.00 or 200.00…

Autodesk bought Alias in 2005 thereby taking over both Motion builder and Maya…

and looky here at what happened… Now the personal edition is long gone and Motion Builder costs $3995.00!

Adobe did the same thing with Flash a long time ago (originally owned by Macromedia).

It is nice that what used to cost a lot (TrueSpace) is now free… I originally bought version 3, then upgraded to 4, then 5… and quit upgrading after that because I switched over to Lightwave around that time… but it is sort of sad to see a company get gobbled up… especially one that was nice to new users and had a very good interface that helped developing 3d artist learn the ropes.

If you like the fact that trueSpace if free since you are an artist or want to become one, you might check out http://www.wings3d.com/, http://www.anim8or.com/, and http://www.blender.org/since Wings, anim8or, and blender are also free. Other freebies are out there, but these are the main ones that I know of that a lot of folks use.

Gmax is also free, but it’s several years old and is really just a dumbed down version of 3d Studio Max, which the big corporation Autodesk owns and wants you to pay a lot for…

It’ll probably just be a matter of time before Microsoft execs figure out some way to make Caligari’s trueSpace and gameSpace technolgy become massively expensive toys for the rich.

(If you can’t tell by the tone in this post, I’m not a huge fan of Micro$oft. I can’t tell you how many crashes have killed my artwork and other creative endeavors because Windows 95, 98, and XP all were pure junk. Vista is not far behind, but it a little more stable… Also, as someone that plays Entropia Universe a lot, I have a little bit of a grudge against Microsoft for when they tried to kill of Project Entropia in it’s early days by falsely accusing them of being pirates.)

Inspirations – http://www.wordsaroundtown.com/

Clarissa left me a little comment over at https://jeffthomann.wordpress.com/2010/01/09/mall-small-19-drawing/ talking about her friend’s website at http://www.wordsaroundtown.com/ so I figured I’d visit and do this Inspirations posting about it. I have not really done many (read any, lol) inspirations postings up til now that have to do with anyone’s art that I did not know about before now. Time to change that, and start exploring the art world in these here intra-web tubes.

As indicated at http://www.wordsaroundtown.com/page8.php wordsaroundtown.com is owned by Kevin McCartney Studios.

Kevin appears to be a very good photographer.

The words around town site seems to be made of various pictures that Kevin has taken and converted in to fonts to spell out words.
He’s using the forms he finds in his compositions as letters.

As stated in the site, Kevin has a real enthusiasm about this obscure typographical artform…

The challenge of finding objects around us that we normally pass by everyday without a second glance which look like letters has been exciting and fun!

Finding the hidden beauty in everyday things that we often pass by without a second glance IS, in my opinion one of the great things that exploring art does for people that get in to art.

Finding the invisible forms as Kevin is doing and making it visible is sort of a theme that has run through art for many years. It is an obscure idea that can be traced back to the Surrealist movement, especially in Salvador Dalí’s paintings… but the idea actually goes back a lot further than that.

Trompe-l’œil means “fool the eye” and that phrase is what is best used to describe or categorize this form of art. Actually, almost every form of 2-dimensional work that goes back to the earliest known cave arts is somewhat in this to some degree – since after all making a window out of something that is not a window as paintings do is fooling the eye so to speak.

It’s all about hidden messages or meanings, and really being a keen observer of the world in order to see the form and the way that simple basic design principles can allow multiple things to happen in the same plane.

The idea of bringing the reality of the 2-dimensional canvas of a painting or photograph in to the viewers plain sight so that it’s simple beauty can be observed in and of itself outside of all other rules and principles of creating illusion is a very modern idea that is seen over and over and over again in 20th centrury art. That’s why I say that genres like Cubism, Op-Art, and a lot of other genres that focus on the 2-dimensional existence of the plane in an artwork are MORE REALISTIC than simple little paintings that pretend to be windows showing pretty landscapes or cityscapes that most other people classify as Realistic…

Is it realistic to pretend that the 2 dimensional surface on a wall is something other than a surface on a wall? Sure there can be little pictures in there, just like there is on that flat plane you are looking in to to see these words, or that you will view tonight as you watch Prime Time TV… but isn’t it more realistic to acknowledge that what you are looking at is really a 2 dimensional flat surface?… as Kevin has done by seeing the letters in his photographs?

Some folks even take this sort of idea in photography to a whole different level in the form of Photomosaics… After all, if a photograph is really just a bunch of dots made up of 4 colors, CYMK (Cyan Yellow, Magenta, and blacK), it makes sense that each photo is balanced more towards one of those 4, so it makes sense to use an entire photo as one small element in a larger picture… Actually, given enough time and photos, photomosaic technology could go to a whole new level and allow an infinite amount of images to exist hidden inside of a set of photos… the first level would look like something from space, then as you approach it to the airplane level it would phase and each level as you get closer and closer could phase in to a new image, hidden… only to dissolve as new ones come in to play. The hidden typography that Kevin is searching for is a little different than Photomosaics, but not completely. There is a lot of similarities there – searching for what is hidden in plain view.

It’s strange but all language and all these ideas that get thrown at us daily in these little windows that are not windows are something that connects us all as a society. People from 200 years ago would think we are crazy staring at computers and tvs and spending as much time as we do daily on these devices that are really 2 dimensional boxes producing light. Works like this make people think. They can become kitsch or cliche sometimes if overdone, but they do start to open the mind, and let people begin to question reality itself on some level, which, in my opinion is what all great art should do.

Keep looking for the hidden meanings Kevin. Your typographic photos are amazing. Keep spreading the Love.

Interesting Reading – A few Technical “Bibles”

I just wanted to throw these out here because they are amazing books that I use a lot and recommend a lot of other people to use too!

The Photoshop Bibleis THE book that you will want to get if you want to learn how to use Photoshop. I am sad to say that I’m still running Photoshop 5 LE, so I have not picked up a newer version Photoshop Bible that is for newer versions of Photoshop myself, but have read a few pages out of the newer versions in a bookstore now and then. It still appears to be the best source to go to for all things Photoshop. It covers just about every main function in the application and gives you a simple plain English explanation of why everything is there and what you should be using each function for and which Icons you should push on or quick keys to hit to get what you are trying to accomplish done quickly and competently.

The JavaScript Bible is THE book to have on Javascript. You CAN learn some of the basics from visiting websites such as Web Monkey, but when you really want to start digging deeper and understanding how to do things on a more complex level, this is the to go to book that you will be wanting to get. Just about every aspect of Javascript is covered and there’s coding example after coding example that will get you up and running quickly and give you a working understanding of how all the spokes in the wheel run together to get your website advanced to a new level of interactivity.

Beginning Game Programming with Flash is another great book to have for web design. Surely you have played a few flash games on occassion. They are all over the internet. This book teaches you from the ground up how to start building those sorts of games yourself. If you thought Javascript was fun, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The graphics and programming power behind Flash can let you create just about any sort of game that you want online if you have enough time to program and test your stuff out. There are definite limitations to what Flash can do, but many of those limits dissappear with every new version of flash that comes out, especially as more and more people are getting off of dialup and heading to dsl or other high speed internet carriers.

The Artist’s Handbook, or The Artist’s Handbook of Materials and Techniques: Fifth Edition, Revised and Updated (Reference)
is just about one of the best “Bibles” on traditional art methods.

Both of the books cover many of the same topics. Mayer’s is considered a little “better” by some since I think it is actually the older of the two.

They cover just about every technique that there is in the traditional arts, and gives some really neat in-depth information that you just won’t find many other places, especially in a single book. It’s actually pretty hard to believe how much information there is packed in this book…It tells you some of the little known facts about how to make pigments, what formulas to use to make your own gesso, explains in-depth information about various surfaces and how you should treat them and more importantly, why. It just has a lot of little key bits of information that are invaluable to anyone that really wants to create artwork.

Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists’ Writings (California Studies in the History of Art) is another great art related book. While this book is not really a Technical Bible per se, it is a bit like the more traditional Bible in that it goes directly to the source to get first hand accounts of what is going on in the minds of various artist in the contemporary art world. The book is filled with tons of interviews done with artists, diary entries created by artist, and a variety of publications created by artists and those that have an in depth understanding of artists. It gets to the heart of why contemporary art really exists, and has more in-depth, behind the information than you are likely to find ANYWHERE else all in one place.

Interesting Reading – Asimov’s Guide to the Bible: A Historical Look at the Old and New Testament

You folks reading this might think I’m nuts doing this many Interesting Reading posts in this short of a timespan, but there’s a lot of various books that I’ve read and/or am in the middle of reading that have a lot of relevance to this blog and life in general really, and are just great books that I think everyone should at least take a glance at some point in time… I’ll probably add more interesting reading posts in the not-too-distant future…

Asimov’s Guide to the Bible: A Historical Look at the Old and New Testaments is a very interesting book. Asimov, possibly one the greatest science fiction writers of all time, explores the bible from a scientific and historical perspective in this book. He’s an athiest, (and a former Jew I think) but that does not matter. He covers a lot of the historical aspects of each chapter of the Bible in this book from a scientific perspective. There’s not a lot of mushy love and miracle belief talk in the book like you see in a lot of the bible study books that are written by Christians. Also there’s a lot of discussion about geography and history of the locations in the bible, and how each of the main characters in the bible is thought of from a historian’s perspective and how they sort of fit in to the Social Studies and History books. That is something you don’t typically get a lot of with a lot of other books about the Bible. I don’t know that I agree with him on everything (since he is an atheist after all), but I do think he presents a lot of ideas that anyone interested in Religion, History, or Geography, regardless of whether they are Christian or not a Christian might find interesting.

His explanations that seem to explain away miracles or give them a new twist by allowing you to think about them in a different way than the way you might have been taught in Bible School by adding a bit of science is somewhat refreshing, and for the most part does not make the Bible any less relevant or True.

Remember, there are multiple perspectives to our reality… What everyone that witnesses anything experiences is likely slightly different than others that witnessed the same darn thing. It is good to sometimes think about things from a different angle. There might be a slight challenge to your faith in some of the info in this book, but that actually might be a catalyst that will help you gain a stronger faith by reading the book. There is a lot of historical and geographic info in here that you probably won’t come across many other places unless you are theologian and have read a LOT of ancient texts and have a masters degree in religion. It’s good to learn a few new things. and think about things in a different way on occassion! 🙂

Interesting Reading – The Four Agreements

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book) by Miguel Ruiz is an interesting book. It talks about a lot of things, but mainly how to handle your internal train of thoughts to become more at peace with the world around you.

The 4 Agreements are
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions.
4. Always Do Your Best.

One of the many themes in the book is that Original Sin does not really exist since the Fall of Man is just a story in our head… but it is much more than that too…

because our conscious minds that are always trying to make up stories about the world around us to help us understand and cope with the world around us based on our own unique psychological pasts, IS that the true Serpent in the Adam and Eve story… not really a serpent so much as a story teller – something that is constantly feeding us lies about the world that we can choose to believe or not to believe.

In many ways what the book is getting in to is a very DEEP and profound understanding about the world, and how to look at the world. I don’t know if I agree with everything that the book’s author believes, but I do believe that a lot of his ideas presented in the book are applicable to all of us in our every day lives.

Sometimes if we take the time to just shut up that little voice in our head that is telling us the way that things are, based on our own perceptions and mis-conceptions that we believe are Truths about reality we can come to realize that there is a lot more to the world around us than our own little single solitary point of view and can start to see the other sides of the multi-faceted jewel of reality that is hidden in the the story of each individual in the world around us… and can go 3 or 4 steps beyond that and start to come to realize that Reality itself is not really necessarily all that we have been taught, but is something much more than that…

and can come to realize that maybe, just maybe, we really were made in the image of God, like the Story of the Fall of Man tells us that we were, and that there really can be heaven on earth and peace everywhere, at least inside of us, if we just change the way we think about things a little sometimes and stop trying to continue to use our past biases and little lies that we have told ourselves in the past that made our reality a little more black and white than it should have really been.

Many years ago I remember that I had an in depth discussion with a Catholic Priest and he told me that the true Fall of Man is that we forgot that we were made in God’s image… Sex was not the problem… it was that Adam and Eve discovered that they could be their own mini versions of God to themselves, and saw things in their own ways, and started trying to make logic out of things, and taking actions to mold the world around them to suit their own needs instead of molding themselves to the world to be at peace with the world. It’s something to think about… It is a very interesting book. It really gets in to some deep psychology that is very simple on the surface, but has deep implications and can help you see the world around you in a new light.

Don’t continue to listen to that biased voice in your head all of the time assuming that it’s always right and has the true Truth about all of the world around you. Sometimes that voice can be wrong. Sometimes it can have a lot of little biases too it that have come in to creation based on some things that have hurt you in your past that you might not even be aware of today. Sometimes it is good to look at that multi-faceted jewel of reality from a different perspective.

Perhaps if more people started looking at things from more than one perspective, and started to really get in to thinking about the world around them instead of rushing around doing things based on assumptions, lies that they’ve been told or told themselves, taking everything personally and seeking revenge because of that, and being overall morally lazy by not doing their very best in all that they do, the world could become a better place, and we might not have as many conflicts about silly things… maybe there would not be as many battles in governement. Maybe there would not be as many wars. Perhaps we could start to bring peace to the entire world around us, both socially, ecologically, and environmentally.

Perhaps we could get back to the true Reality that we were born to embrace – a Heaven on Earth. That reality does exist today. It’s just a matter of changing your attitude and way of thinking about things to make it more of a reality for yourself. Negativity is all around us. It’s blasted at us in the newsrooms. It’s shouted out in all the advertisments everywhere – “You are not good enough to be happy today – Buy a Coke and put it in the coaster in your Ford Truck today so that you can have a supermodel sit next to you as you get a happy life. It’ll just cost you several thousand dollars… ” Stop listening to the lies. Start trying to find the true Reality. It does exist, and is in your grasp, and this book might just help you find it a little easier.

Some of strangest compliments I’ve ever received…

Have you ever had someone say something extremely oddball to you, about you, that was meant to be a compliment, but could have possibly been taken as a slam? I’ve had that happen to me a few times. I love these little compliments because you remember them well and can look back on them, and sometimes say, yes, they were right, I am that way, or just look back and smile and laugh. Here’s some of the weirdest compliments I’ve ever received, which have a bit of truth to them…

Becca
(I can’t remember your last name Becca sorry – we attended TSU together. You had long black curly hair, a smile and laugh that is hard to forget, and a a neat little glimmer in your eye when it came to anything that interested you, and I think you were going in to art therapy after you graduated from TSU):
Jeff, when I watch you create your art, it is like you are an exotic farmer.

Chris (Gondee) Mast
(referring to an apartment bedroom that Tekla and I had converted in to a computer room many years ago) :
Gah! Jeff, it feels like I’m walking on to the set of a Star Trek movie when I walk in here.

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I might make a post later about some of the weird remarks that I remember from various role playing games through the years, but am not sure if I want to do that or not, since some of it might not be suitable for younger members of this blog’s viewing audience…

I’ll also try to add more weird or oddball remarks about myself in this post over time as more of them come to me from the depths of my subconcious mind from many years ago, or as new ones come around in the future…

Happy New Year (almost)!

Happy New Years (almost). I’m really hoping that 2010 will be a MUCH better year than the last couple of years have been.

We have had far too many deaths in the family the last few years. In 2009 Tekla’s father and grandmother both passed away.

My cousin, Malissa also passed away.

They will be missed greatly.

A while before that, one of Tekla’s youngest cousins passed away.

A long while before that, one of my cousins was in a coma for a very long time. Luckily he’s been out of it for a long while and is now recovering nicely. Before that, my grandfather passed away not long ago. Before that my other grandfather passed away just a few years ago.

All of these tragic events that we have witnessed in recent times has made me come to cherish each day. Life is worth living to the fullest – every minute of it, every day, every second!

In January, I plan to see my now one year old niece that I have never met up til now. In April, Tekla and I plan to celebrate our 5th Anniversary! 2010 WILL BE A GREAT YEAR! Let it be so, Amen.

Fellow Artist – Rachel (Michael Tiger) Elliott

Rachel and I were classmates together at Truman State University in the late 1990s. We attended quite a few painting classes together. I remember fondly having some in-depth discussions with her as we both sat fatigued on the painting studio floor after having been in our own little corners of the room pulling all-nighters.

Her work has a serene beauty to it. A few of her drawings are sometimes simple on the surface, but very narrative and complex under the surface. I really enjoy her mastery of color and simple lines to evoke a lot of feeling. Her use of compositional space draws the viewer in to the little worlds that each individual painting or drawing depicts and describes. Her works may be small, and intimate since they require the viewer to get up close and personal with the work, but they pack a powerful punch.

Rachel’s Blog is located at http://michaeltiger.wordpress.com/. Her blogging is one of the many things that have inspired me to start blogging again.

Growing up… .stream of conciousness… fleeting thoughts…

growing up … train-of-consciousness running me down!..stream of conciousness… fleeting thoughts, racing through my mind.. dream like visions… life is flashing before my eyes as various realities that I have known come colliding together in kaleidoscope forms making a rainbow prism for myself to see… myself… who I am…

Watching sunsets on Aunt Jo Ann’s porch (the brilliance blinding and beutiful), ruts in dirt roads. Covered bridge. Cows crossing the stream..
lincoln logs,
He man, Spider man, GI Joe and Fonzy
etc.

Fond memories of my dad’s flannel jackets, my great granma’s bonnet, clubhouse/treehouse… space cadets, imagination running wild. I feel like I’m awakening from a dream as I type this and begin letting my brain reconnect with some old memories… neurons are all a chattering away … excitement like a Child awaitng opening presents on Christmas morning… Christmas, Ceder Tree, tinsels, icicles… taking the icicle from the coyote’s cave near grandpa’s farm…

mind is racing as I conciously do what I need to do, at work, and elsewhere… however, I am no automaton. My subconcious races thinking about many thing… both wonderous and mundane. Creativity is flowing through every neuron in my body as I feel a tingle. I know that I am alive. It is good to feel this level of happy exhileration again… to be in touch with who that I am…. knowing that I am… being who I am… I am.

I am reminded of an old meditation that several nun’s and other Catholic mentors that I have related to at various retreats throughout my life have taught me…
Be Still and Know that I am God… Be still and Know. Be still… Be…

zest for life after mourning… inspirations of Jon – He is alive and is proud to be alive… spirit quests… change is good although we don’t like it when and fight it tooth and nail… understanding… wisdom…

It is good to be alive.

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I am…
I am that.

ALIVE AND WELL here. How are you today?

Fantasy Lands…

Wikipedia is bad for studying fantasy game worlds in mmorpgs since they have rules that keep that sort of thing from staying in posts there…. can’t verify blah, blah, blah… which is weird since they have entire sections on fantasy places in literature

like Oz…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Oz

Mavel Universe,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_universe

and even Heroes…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_(TV_series)

etc.

I guess for now, folks in Entropia will just have to continue to use places like http://www.entropedia.info/ because the place that should describe all of these sorts of things in detail, wikipedia, refuses to do so. Gigantic bias against virtual game worlds there on wikipedia in my opinion, which is really too bad… How are places that real people visit with their avatar every day less real and needing to be in there than silly make believe places like the land of Oz?, especially since places in Entropia Universe are paid for with real world money?

Something that really frustrates me about all of this is that they apparently have different rules for different virtual worlds… since they apparently don’t mind listing locations inside of the virtual universe of Warcraft… even though it’s an MMROPG and is “less real” than Entropia since it’s based entirely on a virtual gold system instead of a PED system that has a real world monetary system as the PED is tied to the dollar in a 1:10 ratio.

Analysis/Review of the Avatar Movie

The other day my wife and I went to see the 3d version of movie Avatar. Actually, we did not know it was 3d when we bought the tickets until the guy that took the tickets handed us the 3d glasses.

The graphics in the 3d version of this movie are spectacular. However, the plot is flat & characters are sort of one dimensional and cliche.

**************SPOILER ALERT**************

The basic plot is that a crippled guy goes in to weird alien forest world with his dead twin brother’s avatar with the goal of getting the aliens to leave so that his superiors can drill up the area where the aliens reside. While there, he meets an alien girl and falls in love with her, learns the ways of her people, decides that its best to help the aliens instead of his superiors, and ultimately ends up dead, but he lives on in the form of his avatar because the aliens use a weird “tree of life” to move his soul from his human body in to his alien body. There’s a few plot twists, but that’s the main storyline. It’s a fairly typical sort of Romeo and Juliet in a sci-fi setting almost. The only real difference is that Juliet doesn’t really die – her big tree house just gets crushed, and Romeo doesn’t die – he just becomes an alien.

One of the main themes in the movie is the idea that the entire planet and the Avatar Race are tied to one another with electrical pulses. I think in one scene they even say that there’s “more connections” between the environment and the people than there are neural pathways in the human brain. There is a blatent new age “Gaia” type of “green” theme to all of it… although they don’t call it Gaia – They call their earth goddess diety on this strange world Eawa, or something similar sounding to that…

There might be a possibility that Ehwa is really something similar to Yahweh spelled backwards, and that’s done to represent the “Great Goddess” idea vs the old Human Christian and Western ideas of conquest and spreading our ways to others all over the world that has lead us on Earth to where we are today with a world filled with Green House Gas, etc…?!?… especially with the “tree of life” being connected to the entire world idea – which is sort of similar to a few New Age and old Kabbalah sort of ideas… Of course that might be going way too deep in to the metaphors and looking at symbols and stuff, lol.. Maybe they just like the Ewoks from Star Wars and wanted to make a diety that sounded like that sort of sound. 😉

In one of the longest sililoquies in the movie, the main character says something like “They (Humans from Earth) have killed their planet” implying that humans destroyed earth and now they are trying to destroy this planet with their techological ways, drilling up the earth, etc.

There’s an ongoing techonolgy vs native primitive way of life struggle throughout the entire movie as well as a lot of other ideas and themes. The basic underlying idea I got about it is that the movie is not really about aliens at all – it’s about us in the “Civilized Western World” and how we keep kicking natives out of their natural settings – and keep destroying our entire world in the process… in Africa, in Central America, in Australia… even here in the US since we kicked the original indidan population out of the places there had come to call home.

Riding a Dragon type of creature as a sign of “coming of age” is one of the subplots in the story, as are few various ideas about what is real, and a few other things, but I don’t want to give away the whole story and completely ruin the movie for you (even though I may already have with the two paragraphs above)… I could probably go on and on about a lot of symbols, metaphors, and the technological issues regarding how the movie was made, but I’ll save some that for another day when I have more time to post…

However… there is one topic I will discuss along these lines…

There’s that whole side issue about cloning going on in the movie that could lead to discussions about if/why a clone would not have an identity and soul of it’s own instead of just being a humanoid robot ready to take commands from whoever it was cloned from – but that’s not really the main part of the story… Actually that little idea sort of goes against the whole basis of the plot and themes in the movie since the Avatars are really clones created with technology and therefore represent everything un-natural, and also represents a sort of invasion on the soul of the being that is the Avatar… However that whole idea is a non-issue because it’s just “assumed” that the Avatar has no self identity in the world presented in the movie… (which is part of the reason why I think Ewa is to evoke a sort of new age, magical, mystical, occult, kabbala type of idea and theme in the movie – as the “Avatars” are really somewhat similar to the old idea of a Golem – a souless body that’s used by spellcasters, etc… except instead of using magic, they use the “technology” of cloning and the little coffin like boxes that the humans that are using the avatars have to go in to make the Gollum-like Avatars become alive… ok… all you Baptists and other religious nuts out there, are you ready to ban this movie like you banned Harry Potter and Mickey Mouse, lol… You know, doing that just brings more media attention to movies like this and causes more people to watch them since everyone wants to see for themselves what all the controversy is about! Actually, you could turn all the symbols around and make the resuruction of the Avatar in to a resuruction of the Body after death idea since it’s sort of a “going back to an Eden-like Heaven” to live with the other alien angel like creatures on that strange primitive world… 🙂 😉 )

Overall, I give the movie about a 7 out of 10 rating because the plot is pretty predictable and almost all of the characters other than the main two are very flat and one dimensional psychologically, and even they are fairly predictable most of the time. It was nice to see a “save our earth by going green and supporting primitive cultures in the rainforests” type of message in a movie like this, but the repitition of that idea over and over and over goes a little overboard in my opinion…

A few healthcare tips…

As someone who works for a hospital, in a Department that works closely with insurance contract interpretion, I’ve seen a lot of behind the scenes sort of things that a lot of people don’t necessarily think about when thinking about their hospital and doctor bills – things that might be costing them a lot but that they are not aware of, costs both in healthcare being provided to them as well as monetary costs…

Here’s a few tips related to healthcare that you might want to keep in mind in the future when dealing with your insurance company, hospital, doctor, or any healthcare provider. I’ll probably post more tips in future postings as I think of new tidbits. I’ll try to keep this as specific as I can so that it’s useful information for the general public but as unspecific as I can so that I don’t get in trouble for HIPPA violations or get in trouble with my boss if anyone I work with ever stumbles across this in the future.

Reciepts…
Always ask for a receipt any time you pay a bill. Sometimes clerical errors can cause bills to continue to be sent to patients by a hospital after the bill is sent. Other times, it’s possible that the bills are being computer generated by a system that is automated, and it’s impossible to turn the system off if a bill comes in… In many cases, at some healthcare facilities, hospital bills DO get sent to patients after the bills are already paid, and in some cases, those bills will have a date on the top of them that indicates that they were produced AFTER the payment for the bill has already been paid by the patient. This usually happens because of the fact that many hospitals, doctor offices, and other healthcare providers outsource some or all of their billing, and/or rely on billing systems that are not able to always be 100% up-to-date. In some, rare cases, this could be considered fraud because the bills are being created after the claim in question is already paid, making it highly confusing to patients, who sometimes send in payments any time they receive a bill, resulting in overpayments.

Overpayments… and Small Dollar Writeoffs…
Many healthcare facilities, and some insurance companies as well, typically write off small dollar debits and credits below a certain amount. For instance some hospitals might write off debits and credits below a fifteen dollar amount, and some physician offices may write off debits or credits with values around five or ten dollars. The actual amount varies from place to place, and office to office. What is important to know about this is that this means that they are likely going to write off a certain amount of money up to a certain dollar amount if it is either OVER or underpaid. For underpayments, this can work to your benefit since it might mean that you are getting away with not paying your copay, etc.

However, As mentioned in the above paragraph on Receipts, that might mean that your overpayment on bills that you’ve already paid are being written off and you’ll never be refunded for the amount you overpaid on your bill if it’s an overpayment amount under the threshold that the facility in question is using to determine writeoffs. You would think that it would be unethical for healthcare facilities to keep your overpaid money, but they don’t think twice about it because they have deemed the amount below that threshold, whatever amount it’s set at, to be not worth their time since it’ll cost them more in paying their staff to refund you the money than the actual refund itself is worth. This can really add up over time, since some people may put off going to the doctor for many months, and then go and see several doctors in clinics in a hosptial all on one day – resulting in multiple bills for the same day…

For example… If a hospital has a 15.00 small dollar write off, and physicians at the same facility have a 5.00 writeoff policy that is similar… 15.00 overpayment could be being thrown away in a write off for one bill, and another 5 for the physician bill that’s for the same service… for a total write off of 20.00 overpayment for one clinics for one day… maybe one for diabetes, one for an eye exam, one for a follow up on something else, and a couple of others for various other problems… Lets imagine what could happen if you saw 5 clinics on the same day, and got an x-ray or mri too, both of which could result in additional bills… That could be 7 or more hospital clinic bills, and 7 or more physicial bills since the physicians and hospital send out different bills… You could have possibly overpaid 20×7 = $140.00 in total for just that one day… and never have a chance of getting it back since they consider it written off as a small dollar amount that they don’t want to mess with… Imagine how much money you could be loosing in something like this if you have ongoing problems such as chemo treatments, diabetes, or any other numerous health related issues that require ongoing visits?…

Make sure to ask what the small dollar write off policies at the facilities you deal with are. Also, be sure to always ask as many questions as you can think of related to your bill so that you know what is going on with your money.

Applying Overpayments…
Similar to the issues mentioned above, some facilities tend to move money around on various bills that a patient has where they see fit. In other words, if you overpay a bill one month, and you incur another bill the next month, some facilities will apply the payment up to the amount owed, move the overpayment and apply that overpayment amount to the next bill that still has a balance, resulting in a very messy accounting of where the money you paid was actually applied, and also making it very confusing to know if you have overpaid anything or still owe money on something. This typically happens if you pay a copay or coinsurnace payment to a healthcare provider at the time that the service was provided, and then later, after your insurance is billed, it’s discovered that the insurance paid your bill in full, and there was no actual balance you should have paid in the first place, or the insurance has left you with a copay, deductible, or coinsurance amount that is smaller than what you paid at the time of service. Make sure you know your benefits, and are kept updated with changes, and know exactly how much to pay when, if possible.

Discounts
Many healcare providers and insurance companies have negotiated contracts between one another so that the insurance company can pay a smaller amount than 100% of the charges billed by the healthcare facility, and the payment with that discount makes the payment considered to be “paid in full” by the healthcare facility. These managed care contracts can be very confusing, and often can be interpreted in a number of different ways by a number of different parties, depending on how the contracts themselves are worded. Many of these contracts also have new amendments, negotiations, etc made to them yearly, or on some sort of regular basis. Make sure to check all explanation of benefits that your insurance company sends you to make sure that you only paid the amount that you should have to the healcare provider. If you paid the amount that should have been discounted, request your money back.

Some facilities will work with uninsured people, or people that have out-of-network benefits at a particular facility that they go to (out of state provider that specializes in something that a place more local cannot handle, etc.). Similarly, some facilities are willing to negotiate with under-insured people, such as Amish communities, Church groups, people who have no health insurance that are willing to pay a certain percent of the bill immediately, etc. Make sure to ask as many questions as you can think of to both your insurance company and healthcare provider to make sure you are not overpaying on something that should have been discounted.

Medicare… and other Governement Programs can be very odd sometimes…
Did you know that Medicare pays a flat Diagnosis Related Grouper (DRG) rate on inpatient claims? They also pay something called an outlier in addition to that if the amount billed is high enough and falls in to certain conditions. What is very important to understand about this is that sometimes, the flat DRG payment rate is MORE than the amount that some healthcare providers charge. In other words, if a DRG rate is something like $1500.00, and the hospital is only charging $1200.00 for the bill, Medicare is paying the hospital $1500.00, and this is considered to be legal since Medicare paid the DRG rate. What is even more odd about this sort of thing is that even though the hospital is getting paid more than it’s billing, they can still legally hit you up for even more money in addition to this because you still legally owe your copay or deductible amount… In other words the hospital is getting paid more than it’s charging and you are still on the hook for more money than that. No wonder the folks in Washington are trying to reform Healthcare. Tricare (the insurance for our armed service men, and retirees) is set up very similar to Medicare. In addition some insurance companies use Medicare as a bases for establishing the amounts they pay… so in the past some commercial insurance companies have been known to pay hospitals more than the hospital charged for certain services, due to the fact that the insurance(s) in question were paying based on flat DRG rates, in contracts that did not have a “lesser of DRG Rate or total billed charges” clause in it – and patients still were getting billed copays in addition to this payment over the total billed charge amount… Ask as questions to both your insurance company and healthcare provider(s). Things can and are confusing sometimes…

Scanning money…
It is illegal for healthcare facilities, insurances, or anyone else to scan paper money at 100% of the original size of the money in question. Doing so is considered by the United States Government to be counterfitting. In the past, some healthcare providers have scanned dollar bills as proof of payment for some low dollar copays. If you ever see anyone scanning money, ask them why they are doing that, where they are saving it, and at what size they are saving it or printing it. Some newer software, such as Adobe Photoshop, will actually try to not save scanned money. It is legal to scan money, so long as certain rules are followed, so Adobe actually is going a few steps too far in completely stopping the scanning of money. http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/money_illustrations.shtml

more posts will likely come in the future about healthcare…

History of Entropia Universe… The one constant is CHANGE… Entropia Universe is DYNAMIC!

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For future articles/blog posts like this one please see my other blog dedictated to Entropia: http://entropiatrash.wordpress.com
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This post is going to list all of the historical information about Entropia Universe. I don’t have time to list it all right this second, but will in the not-too-distant future. There is a lot to this… so this will likely grow to be a very long post over time.

http://www.entropiadirectory.com/wiki/EU_History – Intro story

Ever wondered where all the people are?

1000 years into the future our history begins
—
The era of space travel
The Space Age
Space Industry
Quantum technology
Genetic Engineering
Space Travel
A long time ago Mankind took the final step into the depths of space. We conquered our own solar system and soon embarked on a new era of interstellar travel. Mankind have now begun to expand their civilization across the galaxy, following a growing web of desolate outposts and industrial supply facilities that have been left behind by robotic space vessels called the Odysseus Probes.

The Odysseus Probes was a great enterprise set into motion by a global alliance that would later unite the people of Earth. For nearly a century these Odysseus Probes have explored and expanded Mankind’s knowledge of space and its endless new frontiers, continuously discovering new planets and primitive worlds to which humans have later arrived to colonize and conquer. During the dawn of this new era of interstellar travel Earth has survived the conflicts and transitions to a centralized form of leadership that tied every colonized planet together into the Federal Empire. One of these new colonial planets is called Calypso, a life-giving but remote world in a star system situated far beyond the Colonial Frontier in the deep unknown regions of space.

The Odysseus Probe that discovered Calypso built up a vast robot community to prepare it in time for the first human arrivals. One single corporation made the first claim to colonize the world and launched an enterprise called the Exodus Project to bring the first settlers to the New World. When the first humans finally arrived on Calypso they could move into several pre-constructed cities in a terra-formed region of the world called New Eden.

As the settlers moved in the robots would turn over the control to the humans. It was during this gradual human takeover that something went terribly wrong. The robots suddenly turned against the settlers and started a devastating war that would become known as the Robot Revolt. This war nearly wiped out the entire human population on Calypso and laid their new colonies in ruins. After a long time a new generation of settlers finally rid the planet from the hostile robots only to face a new menace as horrid mutated humans began to emerge among the radioactive ruins. Rejected and forgotten, this new threat was quickly set aside by the settlers when they discovered a new robot enemy suddenly appeared from the dark void. The enemy had not been eliminated and was now originating from elsewhere. A desolate robot controlled mining colony in a far away star system had been infested with the same corruption as the robots did on Calypso. These new robots were real war machines, and they were now trying to invade Calypso using advanced teleportation technology to land their invading forces directly on the planet.

And so, the war against the machine continues. The colonial catastrophe on Calypso forced the corporation in charge to be signed over to the Federal Empire. The benefit of unlocking a free market on Calypso was overshadowed by the bureaucratic behemoth of the Federal Empire. Growing tensions between collaborating colonies that are demanding more independence from the Federal Empire has diverted military resources away from Calypso. The free market provides access to vast technological aid but the settlers are now left to deal with the invading robots on their own. It is part of an imperial plan called Project Entropia, which is based on the calculated presumption that salvaged enemy robot technology will provide the settlers with the knowledge they need to surpass, strike back and finally defeat the robots once and for all.

Despite all the dangers that are threatening the colony on Calypso the settlers are determined to persist and have built up a colonial capital called New Haven. This is the first new striving social community on the planet, built to provide settlers with a secure home environment as they continue to explore and colonize the expanding planetary frontier in the land of Entropia.

Chapter 2
The conquest of space
Interplanetary Conquest
The New World Project
New Technology
The Odysseus Probes
Teleportation Technology
Conflicts & Globalization
As interplanetary travel grew the space frontier quickly shrunk because it was limited to the inner boundaries of the solar system and the early ways of space travel. New resources became rare and conflicts between rival corporations grew more violent in their desperate struggle to claim any new resources. The fear of a global economical collapse due to a slow stagnation of the interplanetary market, and the threat of an open armed conflict between the leading national corporations would soon compel Mankind to find ways to reach even deeper into space, far beyond their own solar system. To solve the growing economical problems the leading global forces within politics, market and science moved together to embark on the greatest enterprise in human history: the Odysseus Project. As this huge endeavor was set into motion the gathered forces within this new global body also took the final step towards a world union. Though the market industry was to be the main beneficiary from the Odysseus Project, the public had to be convinced that they were partaking in a great historical enterprise as well. Many conservative emerging nations worried that they could be left out so the plan to increase the industrialization and knowledge of space would also include a mission to expand the whole human civilization beyond its own solar system and to secure the survival of Mankind in the future. This would be “Mans Greatest Quest”. Taking advantage of a project of such a grand scale it was used to give a feeling of new hope to the world, and calm the masses. As a result the New World Project was founded alongside the Odysseus Project and its main goal was to find a new planet in a nearby solar system that could sustain human life. But to send humans beyond their own solar system and directly into the unknown infinite voids of space was still too dangerous. The journey was far too long, the search extremely difficult and the construction of life-supporting spacecraft made the enterprise both technologically and financially crippling. Instead combined efforts and resources were focused on the development of new technology, such as the Jump Rail, Shield Generators and the creation of Antimatter. The first step towards the development of teleportation technology was the invention of a linear way of teleportation using a construction called a Jump Rail, which was capable of sending matter light-years away straight across space. However, construction and usage was extremely costly and the journey far too inaccurate and risky to be of any real practical use. The amount of material, special constructions and energy consumption needed to create a Jump Gate were not available at the time to make it viable. With the creation of antimatter and prototype antimatter reactors it was possible to construct the first functional Jump Rail, though it was still far from practical. The mere fact that the Jump Rail would be torn apart by the violent forces released at each launch did not help its case. For a vessel to survive the immense stress of a launch it seemed natural to focus on the construction of small, compact vessels. The first tests were performed on so called nanoships, and even though the stress tests proved minimal during launch, the smaller vessels did not survive the actual journey. These tests proved that the target matter needed to be contained within a powerful energy field to prevent its atoms from dissolving. As a result the technological development of energy shields also took a step forward. All new technology at this early stage of development was quite crude in both size and functionality. The task required a vessel with a much larger and sturdier hull, allowing it to be equipped with all the devices needed as well as the massive surrounding construction that could emit a stable energy field to protect it. Worried about loosing political momentum the new global political body changed project requirements so that all the new bulky equipment would have enough space onboard the new vessels: the giant Odysseus Probe. A total of seven large Odysseus probes were assembled on orbital space stations. Jump Rails was then used to launch the probes into space towards carefully selected planetary star systems in the galaxy. These star systems had proved to be the most suitable candidates according to prior astrological research with the most advanced space telescopes and equipment. The probes had to be completely self-reliant and were therefore equipped with the most advanced and expensive technology available at that time. Each probe was controlled by a virtually sentient AI quantum super computer, which made the probe capable of its own progressive development and self-reproduction. The AI had several objectives and two primary missions. One was to find and utilize new resources, launch new probes and prepare a communication network for Mankind in space. The second mission was to find a planet capable to sustain human life and initiate a terra-formation to prepare it for human colonization. When a probe had reached its target destination it launched drones to make a survey of all nearby stellar constellations, in search of potential resources to exploit in order to continue its own reproduction and primary mission directives. When enough data had been gathered on a potential planet the probe would send down a Base Matrix that was to land on a strategic place on the planet, set up a base platform and begin to construct it’s own robots. Well adapted to the environment, these robots would in turn find and extract necessary resources from the surrounding areas and produce material to build new facilities. To expand the base and increase its technological capabilities, the Odysseus probe would monitor the progress to a certain point before it would continue its journey towards a new destination. The base would continue to expand and eventually launch a new generation of Odysseus Probes into space to continue the primary missions. The further development of Quantum Technology led to the construction of the first functional teleportation units, which allowed all matter to travel virtually instantly from one place to another. It also meant that organic matter could be transferred from one point to another, creating an instant form of human travel. From being just scientific experiments the new technology needed stronger financial support from the market to reach up to the next levels of development. The Global Alliance saw a great potential in the system and financed the next step in the development: the creation of the first global teleportation network. With financial benefits in mind the scientists introduced the idea of creating an open doorway through space that would save a lot of travel time between colonies and remote outposts. Since the large “Quantum Leap Generators” in each system required vast amounts of energy to function it ultimately led to the increased research and development of antimatter reactors and refineries. With practical and profitable use in mind the technology would later be used to create the first operational Space Gates in the future. All Odysseus Probes had been built and launched within the period of a decade. During this time the newly formed global alliance had to deal with arising conflicts in order to protect their goals towards a unified world. But with new technology at their fingertips the alliance was able to end all major conflicts as quickly as they arose, and not always by the use of force. To add more strength to their agenda they made the teleportation technology available to the open market. When teleportation became the new way of public transportation, it made daily trips and global travel quick, easy and available to everyone. As a result the national borders begun to gradually fade away and merge together, increasing the human tolerance and slowly erasing the cultural barriers that had kept mankind apart. Ethnical groups, political factions and a strong sense of cultural heritage still remained within human society but as Earth was becoming one world it was each individual’s affiliation to one of the growing global mega-corporations, which replaced the old human view of having different nationalities on Earth. Meanwhile the people on the expanding interplanetary colonies gradually became more socially integrated, slowly forming a stronger bond to each other and the planet they lived on.

Chapter 3
The new order
Corporation Wars
The Federal Empire
Imperial Dominion
The people of Earth were about to unite under one single form of leadership. But the corporations were growing weary from waiting for the new resources and profits that the Odysseus probes would bring them. After nearly a decade there had still been no response from any of the Odysseus Probes and people feared that the probes had been destroyed. With each year passing by without a message from any of the probes the conflicts in space increased and before long escalated into corporation wars. The battles took place in space far away from Earth where the Global Alliance had no means of control. With the lack of response from the Odysseus Probes and the brewing conflicts in space beginning to spread to the Mars colony, it increased the official demand for answers as well as the need for new leadership. Scientists came up with the conclusion that the probes had been caught in some sort of a temporary abnormality that became known as a Time Flux, probably due to the form of travel provided by the use of Jump Rails. Half teleported and half travelling at several times the speed of light, it would change the reality of time from both standpoints. What would appear like a short moment of travel for each probe could pass by like ages for the people back on Earth. Still, it was only a matter of time before the project command central would receive the first signal of arrival from one of the Odysseus Probes. In the meantime corporation conflicts had to be dealt with using a stronger power than what could be issued out by the Global Alliance. The Global Alliance was determined to take control of the situation before the conflicts escalated on Mars and stop them before they could spread to the Lunar Colony and finally the Earth itself. To gain enough power to take action the Global Alliance gathered to form a whole new government. This new form of leadership would gain political power to rule the Earth, including all the planets in the solar system and all regions of space in-between them. But most important, it would also stretch as far as human civilization went, no matter how far away into space it would take Mankind. The Federal Empire of Earth had been born. The newly formed Federal Empire used political tactics and increased mobile military capabilities in space to gain control over the interplanetary colonies. This was done in order to prevent the corporation wars spreading down to solid ground and into populated areas. Time was short and the Federal Empire wished to put an end to the corporation wars before the first signals from the Odysseus Probes were received. The first elected Supreme Imperial Chancellor did not intend to give the corporations the chance to slip away and take their conflicts with them to any new colonies in the future front regions of space. When the corporations lost control of the public markets, their armed conflicts quickly came to an end. For a short time the corporations thought about forming their own alliance, which threatened to turn against the Federal Empire in an attempt to overthrow its new government. However, during the very same period the first signals from one of the Odysseus Probes reached Earth. The growing threat from the corporations quickly faded away as they turned their interest towards the new potential resources that were beginning to emerge across space. This first signal was the start of a new age in the history of Mankind: the era of interstellar travel and conquest.

Chapter 4
The colonization of space
Interstellar Conquest
Space Gates
Imperial Contracts
Decades passed by as Mankind began to move away from Earths solar system, following the growing web of robotic bases and industrial supply facilities that were left behind by the Odysseus Probes. So far, the Jump Rails were the only means of interstellar travel but this would soon change with the invention of the Space Gates. As the industry continued to expand the public community would follow and it became a slow but natural form of immigration out into space. Humans managed to adapt and overcome the problems of a life in colonies on new alien worlds, learning how to survive in very hostile environments. Communications and travel were easy but life was hard, if not impossible, unless science and technology were used to aid Mankind in the stellar conquest and colonization of new planets. Even though many worlds are considered habitable it still requires advanced environmental and/or anatomical adjustments to support human life. As a result many humans on far away worlds have been altered technologically or genetically and have become altered in their appearance compared to the original humans on Earth. Through the passing of generations these altered humans began to naturally inherit genetically engineered traits from their parents, without the need for prior genetic alteration of the unborn child. As for yet, the only aliens encountered have been relatively early forms of primitive life. The altered humans originating from Earth remain the only truly intelligent form of life on these few habitable alien worlds. With the continued development of Teleportation Technology the first operational Space Gates were soon being constructed across the entire Earth solar system to link the different planets and colonies together. There was no longer a need for any large human transport vessels between the interplanetary colonies since smaller shuttlecrafts could now travel instantly through the Space Gates. However, the Space Gate technology had its limits. An active gate consumes vast amounts of energy and requires the large scale construction of antimatter reactors, generators, shields, stabilization units and other expensive systems. The opening itself in the gate has to be kept small to keep the active teleportation field stable and the passage secure. The reactors that generate the energy to activate a gate are enormous and require large quantities of antimatter to function. The creation of antimatter is still a difficult and expensive process, still making the issue of Space Gates a matter of economics rather than the most practical and efficient way of space travel available. The interstellar network is growing rapidly. To encourage market competition and ease the economical strain, as well as the political pressure from having to sway off corporate mischief towards the government, the Federal Empire began to issue out Imperial Contracts. These contracts focus on the communication network such as the protection and maintenance of Hyper Link Beacons and the construction of Space Gates. Corporations who have obtained a contract to maintain a beacon are able to pick up new signals transmitted from an Odysseus Probe that has established a new base somewhere in space. The signal that is crossing a contracted beacon will be detected and tagged with a claim before the news has reached all the other control stations in the network in each sector of space. The corporations are then able to sign the contract for a new base and its resources from the Federal Empire at first hand. This also includes claiming a contract for future research and the development of entire new colonies on other planets, which is called a Colonial Contract. This means that the corporation is in complete control of the market on the colony until the whole world has been terra-formed and secured to allow a larger public immigration.

Chapter 5
The beginning
The Discovery of the New World
Planet Calypso
Words of a New World
The Exodus Project
Colonial Uproar
The Great Exodus
Centuries had passed by as man slowly moved further into space. During this time an unknown number of new generation Odysseus Probes had started their endless voyage cross the galaxy, sharing the same ancient quest as the original seven probes that had been launched from Earth such a long time ago. It was one of these new generation probes that discovered a truly life-giving planet. With minor environmental adjustments this New World would be a virtual copy of the Earth itself but with its own evolution of generally early primitive life forms. Once the probe had proven the environment to be acceptable for human settlement it established a base and sent a message back through the hyper link network before it begun the terra-formation of the planet. When the atmosphere and environment had been adjusted to fully support human life the robots continued to build cities that were to stand ready in time for the first human arrivals. However, things had changed during the course of time since the first original probes were launched from Earth. Before the signal managed to reach its intended destination on Earth, it was intercepted and decoded by a corporation that now owned and maintained several of the beacons inside a large sector of the hyper link network were the signal was first received and identified by humans. The corporation OmegaTech quickly claimed the contract to colonize the world but withheld the crucial information from the public that a true living planet had been discovered. The issue was only discussed in secrecy before the Supreme Imperial Chancellor within the closed chambers of the Imperial Senate. The Federal Empire knew the great importance of this historical discovery and decided to give the contract to OmegaTech along with an ultimatum. Unless the corporation had begun a colonization of the planet within a decade the Colonial Contract would be passed on to the next corporation in line that filed a claim on the New World after it had been made official. Indeed there were speculations that the Federal Empire itself had already drawn up its own plans and that the ultimatum was only their first step in taking control of the New World. As the data communications with the robot base matrix on the New World continued more data was decoded that revealed new amazing information. According to certain files the mysterious planet had kept the Odysseus Probe stationed for several standard cycles in orbit before it finally made the decision to leave, despite available resources to construct a new Jump Rail to continue its own voyage within less than one cycle. Any information that would explain this event had for unknown reasons never been transferred from the Odysseus Probe to the robot base matrix before the probe left the star system. This strange delay in the probe’s voyage gave the planet its name according to a very ancient human tale from Earth, were a sea nymph waylaid a homeward-bound hero named Odysseus for seven years on her island. The name of this nymph was Calypso and it was considered most fitting for a future market campaign. Despite efforts to keep the discovery a secret many rumors of the amazing New World soon begun to spread across the colonies. The new planet and its star system were positioned far past the rim of the Colonial Frontier, which gave the isolated planet an almost mystical reputation amongst the people on the imperial colonies as well as on Earth. This growing public interest was building up a pressure on both the OmegaTech Corporation and the Federal Empire. OmegaTech used this interest to execute a hostile takeover and to gain legal motion and financial aid from the Federal Empire for a daring project that would expand the empire outside the colonial boarders and past the known frontiers by bringing the first human settlers to Calypso. With federal aid and a growing public interest throughout the colonies, OmegaTech were able to launch an enormous enterprise called the Exodus Project. Its goal was to bring human settlers to Calypso within less than a decade. The best way would be to launch a research ship towards Calypso using a Jump Rail. The ship would carry necessary equipment and crew for the construction of a Space Gate and the basic material needed to link it to its counterpart that would be built inside the secure space of the colonial frontier. However, there were not enough technological resources available within the corporation itself to embark on such a project. To succeed with this endeavor OmegaTech would need to obtain technological aid and resources from other interstellar corporations but the space market was more interested in seeing the downfall of OmegaTech rather than to help it succeed and prosper. It was a clear attempt by market rivals to weaken OmegaTech in order to move in later and take over the financially vulnerable corporation. High prices on imported resources, shipment delays, equipment flaws, espionage and sabotage would threaten the project, despite legal aid from the Federal Empire. The Federal Empire wasn’t able to control the corporations directly in favor of a single corporation without a risk of causing a political market crisis. OmegaTech had foreseen this line of events and decided to use a more old fashion approach to overcome this problem. By contemplating whatever available technology and resources it had access to the corporation decided build a giant colonial space vessel called The Exodus. The commercial campaign was given the same name as the ship, which increased the public interest in the project even more. The Exodus would be able to take over a thousand settlers to Calypso using the largest Jump Rail ever built. With financial support from the Federal Empire the project was set into motion, despite massive criticism from rival corporations about the low technological level of the whole enterprise. And it was a risky business. It would take every last bit of financial resources to succeed, which would leave the OmegaTech Corporation financially crippled and very vulnerable. The colonies on other planets were not considered living planets like Earth. Even though some planets possessed enough basic elements to be terra-formed and given a new designed ecosystem it still had to be artificially maintained, just like the home planet of Earth itself. Despite these advanced technologies permanent habitants had to be genetically designed to survive on these worlds. Calypso had its own natural ecosystem, even though it had been slightly altered by the robots to make it perfectly suitable for unaltered human beings. When the Federal Empire stated that the discovery of the New World was fact, it quickly became leading news all across the colonial empire. The thought of an untouched world spread a new sense of hope and joy amongst the people throughout the colonies. The Exodus campaign rose ill rumors amongst the colonies that the New World would only be available to the unaltered human elite on Earth and the people within the OmegaTech Corporation, which caused industrial strikes and colonial uproars. The relatively small colonial communities of altered humans posed more of an annoyance than a threat to the corporations and the Federal Empire. The colonial uprisings would fade away with the insurance that the Federal Empire would give all people in the colonial empire the chance to apply for the journey to Calypso onboard the Exodus. However, genetically altered humans and habitants on other colonies wouldn’t be anatomically fit to take on the hard ventures as settlers at this early stage of colonization. Instead they were given the official promise that they would gain access to the new world as any other visitors would once the colony had been secured. This promise was not favored well amongst certain political factions and would result in a growing envy and ill will within the altered human colonies. The Exodus was built in space inside a shielded dome next to a large resourceful asteroid and industrial facilities owned by the OmegaTech Corporation. This dome was not only a shipyard but would also serve as the protective coating around the ship when it was to be launched by the large Jump Rail. The Jump Rail was being constructed at the same time near another resourceful asteroid. These construction areas were located not far away from a central space station that controlled the only Space Gate in the sector. When the great ship was complete, it was moved to the Jump Gate and there it was prepared for launch. The fortunate people who had been authorized to become the first settlers on Calypso were now allowed to travel to the space station and board the Exodus. Every step in the project was followed in detail by the interstellar media and transmitted through the interstellar hyper-link network, instantly reaching people all over the colonial frontier inside the Federal Empire. Media titled it “The Great Exodus”, which boosted the public campaign even more. When the Exodus ship was finally launched on her journey towards Calypso it was considered as another milestone in human history and the beginning of a new era. It had taken three years to complete the Exodus Project but it would take another two years before the people in the Federal Empire finally heard from the Exodus again.

Chapter 6
The first arrivals
Calypso
The Silent Odysseus Probe
Operation Prometheus
When the first settlers arrived on Calypso everything was prepared for their arrival by robots that had already built up a complete infrastructure. Upon the settlers arrival, the robots Base Matrix turned over its control to the humans. The first settlers on Calypso experienced a historical moment as they sat foot on a vast and unspoiled planet, rich in life and resources. They moved into the cities and began to make the last adjustments to the environment. Mankind seemed to have returned to paradise and this first region of colonies became known as New Eden. But all this would soon change. During further investigations of the Robot Base Matrix on Calypso the research teams were never able to find the reason why the Odysseus Probe had stayed for so long before leaving. Though the reason for this delay would remain a mystery the researchers did come across several clues that pointed towards another nearby star system, positioned even further away in the unknown regions of space. The scattered information indicated that shortly after a robot base had been successfully established on Calypso, the Odysseus Probe had constructed a new Jump Rail and then launched itself towards this new destination. Its last transmission was made only to inform the Base Matrix that the probe had arrived and positioned itself in orbit around one of the major planets inside this system. For all they knew the silent Odysseus Probe could still be there. The OmegaTech Corporation decided to launch a second project called Operation Prometheus in an attempt to shed more light over the mysterious actions of the Odysseus Probe. It would also be an opportunity to intercept and examine this old human artifact from the past. An unmanned probe named the Prometheus 1 was prepared for the mission and a small Jump Rail was built to launch the probe towards the last received coordinates. Equipped with a hyper-link transmitter it could send back instantaneous information of what it might discover. The probe arrived at its intended destination in less than three months and transmitted data of an eerie and dark planetary system orbiting a dying star. Two colossal planets with high-density readings were the most distinct features in the system and were given the names Akbal and Cimi. There was no sign of the Odysseus Probe but Prometheus 1 had detected signals from several robot base installations on the surface of both these planets. There was no doubt that these robots originated from the Odysseus Probe, but the question was why the Robot Base Matrix hadn’t established any communications with the interstellar hyper-link network. As Prometheus 1 was ordered to establish contact with the Base Matrix on the planet Akbal the research team back on Calypso received several encrypted signals through its system that originated from the Robot Base Matrix on Akbal. Unable to decode it they decided to process it through the Base Matrix on Calypso.

Chapter 7
The robot uprising
The Robot Revolt
The Birth of the Mutants
The Robot War
The Imperial Takeover
The Military Rescue Plans
The Haven
The End of the First Robot War
The Battle of Calypso
Without any warning the Base Matrix turned all its robots into savage and ruthless death-machines, and with cruel and merciless tactics, forced the darkest era known to Man upon the poor settlers of Calypso. At the beginning of the revolt the Base Matrix cut off all forms of communications on and off the colony. It took control of space drones that were working on a near completed Space Gate and used them to sabotage the construction, rendering it completely useless. The terror continued as it overloaded local energy reactor facilities in the cities, causing them to overheat and explode. It intended not only to destroy the infrastructure but also spread lethal radiation poisoning that would quickly dispose of all living human beings. A few colonies managed to stop this sabotage in time and people quickly became organized in time to stop the local robots from running berserk inside their cities. But the Base Matrix had already planned to take advantage of the panic and confusion to create an armed army of restless robots that would turn the revolt into total war. As the humans were forced to retreat the sinister robots begun to use own nuclear charges to infect possible escape routes and wipe out any last scattered remains of the human population. This massive radiation would slowly kill more people over a longer period of time, but many settlers survived this contamination. Instead of dying they were genetically altered and perhaps suffered a far more cruel fate than death. They began to mutate. Only a few uncontaminated survivors managed to seek refuge in the last city left standing on Calypso and get transported up to the orbiting Exodus but only genetically unaltered humans were welcome here. There was simply no room or resources left in the city for medical care and safe treatment of these victims. For the protection and the survival of the human refugees inside the city the severely contaminated humans were rejected and forced away. They only managed to survive by hiding in the wilderness and underground in the city ruins to escape the robot death-machines. What little humanity they had left slowly faded, with no hope of ever being rescued. They were doomed and quickly forgotten by the humans who were too occupied with their own survival. Mad robotic space drones caused damaged to the Exodus in orbit but its internal AI computer systems remained secure. The ship and its crew survived the ordeal and managed to clear the space of all hostile elements. The Exodus was then transformed into an orbital military space station and the crew initiated a rescue operation to evacuate as many human survivors as possible from the surface. Surviving settlers had to be turned into soldiers and would be forced to fight long and hard to reclaim their planet but they were being constantly outnumbered by the robots. Since all AI robots were being infested with the same madness down on the surface the commanders onboard the Exodus could not send in its own robots to battle in fear that these machines would go mad as well and be used against them. In a desperate attempt to even the odds the commanders onboard the Exodus begun to create androids and used these artificial genetic humanoids as expendable soldiers and personnel in the war. They also started to use semi-automated drone ships, piloted by human operators onboard the Exodus using a remote hyper-link control system. To reestablish contact with the Federal Empire the Exodus crew used a small Jump Rail to launch a probe past the jamming range of the robot infested planet and managed to connect itself to the interstellar hyper-link network and send a message of their desperate situation back to the Federal Empire. The next step was to rebuild the Space Gate but they could only spare enough antimatter to activate the gate for a very limited period of time. Once the Space Gate was activated they could only hope that there would be reinforcements standing by on the other side. The situation on Calypso was clearly getting out of control. To quickly deal with this growing problem the Federal Empire of Earth forced OmegaTech to sign over the entire corporation leadership to the imperial government, thus forming the federal controlled imperial corporation now known as OmegaTech Incorporated. This federal incorporation gave OmegaTech access to more funds and resources that could insure the safety and future prosperity of the colony on Calypso. When the corporation became federal the planet also became an open market for other corporations to make future investments. The Federal Empire welcomed any help that could present an immediate aid to the settlers in their struggle for survival. According to the message the settlers could only keep the Space Gate open for a short moment. A massive military operation to save the colony could not be launched with such limitations so the only efficient form of aid would be a compact delivery of the latest technology, supplies, equipment and expert personnel. Any corporation that offered their aid would be given the first share of the new open market on the colony. As a result brand new technology would become available to the settlers such as Resurrection units, Mindforce and Energy Weapons. Calypso would be turned into a test zone for many new technological wonders. The cry for help from Calypso was the primary issue of debate in all the political chambers back on Earth. One of the primary concerns was to ensure that the robotic madness wouldn’t spread to any other robotic outposts or to any human colonies. The second concern was to help the settlers on the isolated colony on Calypso. Besides sending immediate technological aid, the Federal Empire constructed Jump Rails to launch several military spaceships towards Calypso as a back-up plan if the settlers failed to recapture the planet. Although it was agreed that it would require a larger military operation to perform such a task, the Colonial Chamber made it clear that no imperial or company-controlled paramilitary force could be stationed on Calypso after such an operation. It would diminish their trust towards the Federal Empire since the members of the Colonial Chamber feared that such military force would be used to keep colonial people away from the planet in the future. The colonial people would never accept Calypso being turned into an “Imperial Resort” for the citizens of Earth, giving that there was a planet left after such a full scale military operation. Many feared that such a presence of military power might escalate the robot attacks to such a degree that it could lay waste to the entire planet. The settlers and crew onboard the Exodus had fought hard to defend the last populated region of the colony. Only three cities inside this region had escaped robot sabotage and destruction because they had been built around a large inactive volcano, relying solely on geothermal energy absorbed from deep within the sleeping mountain. The other cities used matter/antimatter reactors, which proved to be their downfall as the robots used these to create large explosions that levelled the cities and spread a lethal radiation poisoning amongst the human survivors. The protected region was to become known as The Haven. It was the only tactical and secure area left on the planet and many survivors who had fled from the other cities came here to seek refuge. It was the last line of defense and the only chance for Mankind to recapture the planet and defeat the robots. The settlers withstood the robot attacks long enough to successfully repair the Space Gate and create a temporary opening. Personnel of officers, scientists and engineers from the Federal Empire were rushed through the gate along with as much supplies and equipment as possible before the gate closed. In a desperate attempt to keep the poorly stable gate open as long as possible it collapsed and exploded. The colony was cut off again but they now had new technology and expertise at their disposal, which finally gave the colonial forces enough military strength to fight a winning battle against the robots. Despite the advantage of the new technology it would take several hard years before the robots could finally be defeated. The brave settlers withstood the robot terror long enough for imperial military vessels to arrive at the Calypso system with more reinforcements, and the war came to an end. To inspire new hope among the settlers, the Federal Empire declared that a whole new infrastructure would be created in the three remaining cities. To ease the financial strain on federally owned corporation OmegaTech Inc, the Federal Empire decided to give two other interstellar corporations access to Calypso. These new corporations would aid the colony in the construction of the other two city projects in exchange for a higher market position within these assigned urban zones. Each corporation was also assigned a contract by the Federal Empire to exploit different resources on the planet in order to insure stability and to encourage trade and economical growth within the region. These three new cities were named New Haven, Neo Ithaca and Xin Shi. But the war was far from over…it had only just begun. When the robots had been destroyed it gave the settlers on Calypso a short moment to reflect on what really had caused the robots to rebel and target humans as their enemy. The element that caused the catastrophe was soon traced back to its point of origin, in the Akbal-Cimi system. When the Imperial military spaceships were being prepared for launch towards the Akbal-Cimi system a massive vessel arrived in the Calypso system along the very same trajectory. The vessel clearly came from the Akbal-Cimi system and it was soon identified as an Odysseus Probe. The massive vessel was not responding to any commands but it was most likely to have been the very same Odysseus Probe that once discovered Calypso. The only form of messages transmitted by its AI command module were said to be incomprehensible but were taken as a warning to the settlers, later revealing its real intent, to recapture the planet. The imperial military spaceships were quickly positioned to intercept this first Titan of War and prevent it from reaching Calypso. The battle over Calypso lit up the dark skies at night for several days before the massive Odysseus Probe was finally destroyed and its wrecked parts fell through the atmosphere like shooting stars. One military spacecraft and nearly all of its crew had been destroyed and the rest of the small fleet suffered substantial damage. The Exodus was kept safe and out of harms way on the other side of the planet during the battle – in case the settlers had to be evacuated from Calypso. This historical moment became known as the Battle of Calypso but it never became a celebrated victory. To the settlers the battle only meant the beginning of a new robot war…a war that has yet to end.

Chapter 8
The robot threat
Colonial Conflicts
The Orbital Defense Network
The Robot Threat
The New Robot Invasion
The Land of Entropia
Communications with the robots were properly reestablished after the first war but the victory faded quickly as the news on the Battle of Calypso reached all the colonized corners of the Federal Empire. The speculations of an interstellar threat of mad Odysseus Probes turning back to conquer human colonies spread much fear on the Colonial Frontier. As a result the colonies on the frontier demanded increased military protection from the Federal Empire. To avoid panic and rebellion the Federal Empire ordered its imperial fleets to be stationed in the colonized sectors positioned close to the distant sectors of the Calypso and Akbla-Cimi systems. A small fleet of imperial spaceships were also sent to join the battered fleet in the Calypso system in preparation for an offensive strike against the very heart of the robot problem. However, by moving forces from one corner of space to another it weakened the Empires presence and power in certain sectors, causing colonies to seize the moment and gain enough political power to make the people rise up and demand imperial independence. This threat to the Federal Empire postponed any further reinforcements of new spaceships to Calypso, since these vessels are considered vital to stabilize the current conflicts that had arisen within the empire itself. Naturally the Federal Empire would not redraw their imperial battleships currently deployed in the Calypso system. The Federal Empire also kept their word to the loyal colonies that it would not station any imperial military command or forces on Calypso, which assured the colonies future as an open market for any new investment. The task to uphold law and order as well as the defense of the colony has been given to the local authorities and the Colonial Guard. The Federal Empire maintained command of the solar system space defense. The rest it laid in the hands of the settlers themselves. To keep the planet safe from further robot invasions a solid orbital defense system had to be constructed before all else. In order to release enough resources for this purpose all other projects on rebuilding the colonial infrastructure on Calypso were postponed. Funds have only been focused on rebuilding one single city: the city of New Haven. OmegaTech constructed a basic network of orbital energy emitting satellites, which included deep space detectors, patrolling drone ships and drone carriers. By constantly expanding the Orbital Defense Network it created an impenetrable planet defense system for the future. The original plan was to use this network as a defense against asteroids but it was now reworked to include five times as many units. A built-in safety system in every unit guaranteed that none of the offensive orbital weapon systems could be armed and directed towards the planet itself. The entire defense network is connected to the Exodus, which now served as an orbital command central. After several failed attempts to penetrate the defense network on Calypso the Akbal-Cimi Base Matrix seemed to realize that it would take far too much time and resources to break through the increased orbital space defenses around Calypso before its own system would be invaded by counter-attack forces. It kept building new modified Odysseus Probes but kept them stationed in the close vicinity of the Akbal-Cimi system for protection. Unmanned scout probes from the fleet in the Calypso system were sent out to investigate the Akbal-Cimi system and soon discovered that a similar defense network was already being constructed around the main planet of Akbal. Soon these scout probes wouldn’t even get that close to the Akbal-Cimi system as the robots began to deploy their modified Odysseus probes, now called Titans of War by the Imperial Fleet, and position them further out in the system to form an own first line of defense. At this rate it would no longer be possible to recapture the Akbal-Cimi system with the currently available resources or technology within the Calypso system. It became obvious that the robots had access to far superior technology when armed groups of robots somehow managed to penetrate the orbital defenses and suddenly began to appear on the surface of Calypso. It took some time before it became clear that the robots truly did just appear out of thin air. Somehow the Matrix on Akbal-Cimi had managed to reveal the secrets of true dimensional travel and used it to develop a superior form of teleportation technology, thereby being able to construct a fully functional deep space teleportation system. The robots were now able to deploy and teleport their troops across time and space and drop them down directly on the surface of Calypso. Although fewer in number these new robot invaders were far better constructed and equipped compared to their predecessors that once ran amok on Calypso. Their mission was as clear as ever: to destroy all humans and take over the planet. As the robot threat increases, the Imperial Fleet of Calypso has come to realize that an attack on the corrupt robot home world, the Akbal-Cimi system, would be impossible since the robots now possess a superior technology and nearly infinite resources. It makes the robots far too powerful compared to the forces of the Federal Empire and an attack on their planet would be a virtual suicide. When the problem was brought before the Imperial Chamber it decided to change strategy and made up a new and far more controversial plan. They believe that if given enough time, the robots will continue to develop and deploy new technology with their invading forces. Upon defeating these new robots that technology can be recovered and extracted in order to increase the research and technological development of Mankind. This conquered robot technology will then be used to create new weapons against the robots, weapons that some day will finally defeat the raging machines once and for all. In short, the superior ability of humans to adapt and invent things by both logic and abstract thinking will sooner or later put them side by side with the robots, flexible but strictly logical minds. In the end it will bring Mankind the tools they need to put an end to the robot war and regain control of Calypso and the Akbal-Cimi system. It was considered the most likely entropy for the planet according to a simulation of the problem performed by GAIA, the Global Artificially Intelligent Advisor and likewise the imperial central super computer on Earth. This also gave the controversial plan its official name: Project Entropia. The downside of this entropy is that the robot invasion of Calypso has to continue in order to obtain the crucial knowledge required to finally liberate Calypso from the robot menace. Something that is not favored too well by the settlers on Calypso, but it’s something they now have to learn to live with. The land once called “New Eden” now felt like a painful memory of a paradise lost long ago and the authorities changed it to Old Eden. However, being struck by a sense of dark humor in their hard and lonesome struggle against the restless robot invaders, the local citizens of Calypso like to refer their small pocket of human civilization as the Land of Entropia.

This is the present time…..

The background history of EU was written by Marco (MA), Frank(MA) and Fredrik Andersson

Humans find the first suitable planet to colonize and call it Calypso.
A probe is sent ahead containing machines to terraform the world.
The machines make the world more habitable for humans and build a city.
Humans land on the planet and take control and begin Mining and Hunting Operations.
The machines resist having control taken away from them and revolt.
Violent War with the renegade machines breaks out.
With new arrivals too far away a large percentage of the population is wiped out.
The machines are finally defeated
One city ‘New Haven’ is left after the mass destruction
New cities are constructed with corporate aid
A secure network of environments linked by teleporters is created.
A new breed of robots take up residence in a nearby Mining Colony
ENTER THE PLAYERS

New colonists arrive and begin to colonize again.
The remaining robots become more secretive and organized, now hell-bent on destroying all humans. They often make attempts to invade the cities and regain control of the planet.
Robots establish a foothold in space and their development and evolution becomes more and more secretive.

Project Entropia Version Update 4.2

2003-01-28

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING STRANGE IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE APPROACHING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
Welcome!

The Version Update 4.2 (“VU 4.2”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document. The VU 4.2 is scheduled for a release at the 30:th of January 2003.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Participant versus Participant combat available

In a special area on the western shore of the continent of Eudoria (marked on the in-universe map) there is a special area where combat between participants is allowed. When entering this area the participant will be notified about the current status. Avatars are not lootable. The area in itself is quite valuable, with rare mineral deposits and uncommon creatures roaming round.
Personal Storage Facilities present

In various areas in Project Entropia each Avatar has the ability to use a Personal Storage Facility. This functions as a safety deposit box, in which you can store items of your choice. Certain items may not be placed here, namely Blueprint books, Deeds, the PED Card, Exchange certificates, and the orange starting clothes. The maximum amount of items that can be stored is at present limited to 500 items. A single stack of several items counts as one item in this Storage Facility. The Storage Facility is currently free of charge.

NOTE: In the next VU (4.3), the weight allowance will be reduced on your Avatar. Therefore we urge you to maintain a reasonable number of items on your Avatar. Also remember that a smaller inventory will increase performance and load times across the board.
Avatar look redesign

All old participants have the option to redo their Avatar looks. The Avatar will keep all items and skills. To keep the old Avatar look just press “Accept” without modifying the settings. You will also be able to change your Avatar name.

PLEASE NOTE that the name chosen is indeed your Avatar name, not your personal name. Also note that titles and ranks will soon be implemented in Project Entropia, reducing the need for entering such “names” as Avatar names. The Avatar name CANNOT be changed after it is entered and accepted.
Hall of Fame updated

The Hall of Fame (“HOF”) has been updated. A new area of fame is the crafting section. The HoF is also split in two sections, one for “All Time High” events, and one that shows the greatest effort of the last 24 hours.
Exchange enhanced

Several updates and enhancements have been made in the Project Entropia Exchange. Better information is available, and the interface has been tweaked for better understanding and functionality.
Skills are rated

Each skill has an individual rank associated with it, indicating how good an Avatar is in their respective field.
Skill experience tweak

The rate at which an Avatar gains experience in his or her skill levels has been set to the correct level.
Skill icons

The skills interface has new icons, making it easier to find a typical skill.
NPC:s populate Project Entropia

In various location there will be NPC:s (Non-Participant Characters) present, doing their thing.
Enhanced transfer capabilities

Several enhancements in the Bank Interface while transferring money from a real life credit card to PED:s have been made. Many of the problems with getting the now infamous “Internal error” message have been eliminated.
Limit amount of items per transfer

The number of items you can transfer in a Trade Terminal is limited to 40. A single stack of items (for example ore or ammunition) counts as one item.
Blueprint books tradeable

You can now trade and sell blueprint books.
Drop Confirm dialogue box

Every time you try to drop an item you have to confirm it.
Monsters drown

After a short while below water the monsters not ordinarily living in water will drown. Drowned animals will not drop loot.
Clothes

More various clothes are present in Project Entropia.
Faster Society functions

The technology running the Societies has been updated and should not take as much time as before accessing it.
Attributes Rating Values Fixed

The avatar attributes (Strength, Agility, etc.) were shown wrongly on the client. The correct values are now shown.
Invisible weapon accessories now visible

Weapon accessories, like scopes, laser sights and amplifiers, are now shown correctly.
Weapon decay mismatch fix

In some rare instances the value of a weapon was shown differently from the time you last logged out of Project Entropia, compared to the next time you logged in. This has now been resolved, and the correct value is always saved on the server.
New client loader and login screen

Project Entropia has a new leaner and more capable client loader, updater and information viewer.
Resumable downloads

The auto-updater utility keeping Project Entropia current has received an added resumable download capability. This means that if the connection should fail during a download, once you restart it, you will begin downloading the files from the point the connection failed.
New firewall ports

Sometimes the participant can’t connect to the Project Entropia Virtual Universe because of their firewall. Opening the following ports in the firewall you use can easily solve these problems:
• 20, 21 (TCP outbound) – Additional TCP port outbound for passive mode FTP
• 30584 (UDP inbound/outbound)
• 30592 (TCP outbound)
• 31111 (UDP inbound/outbound)
Newbie Guide online

On the Project Entropia web page there is a newbie guide present to educate newly arrived colonists about Calypso of what to expect and how to use Project Entropia, while downloading the client software.
Exploit Information Reward System active

At the Support section at http://www.project-entropia.com a new Exploit reporting category has been added. Participants who encounter “exploits” (bugs that can be manipulated into cheating) and report these to MindArk can be rewarded with up to 1000 PED:s.
KNOWN ISSUES
Radar is not updating all the time

Yes, we know. It has become better though. It will be completely fixed in the future.
Yes, you can run through trees

This is not a bug.
Missing icons on clothes and items

On certain PC configurations sometime the item icons in the inventory become invisible, or you receive a dummy icon called “Unable to show”. If this happens to you, please update to the latest video card drivers, check if Project Entropia officially supports your video card, and also change the video settings on the Setup button in the initial login screen. If this fails, please contact the Project Entropia Support.
Background music causing Crash To Desktop (“CTD”)

Sometimes a bug in mp3 decoder system causes the Project Entropia client to crash to desktop while playing a music file. If you experience a lot of CTD you could try to completely shut down the music in Project Entropia using the Options Interface.

Project Entropia Version Update 4.4

2003-04-03

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING STRANGE IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***

Welcome! The Version Update 4.4 (“VU 4.4”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document. The VU 4.4 will come within a few days.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Auctions

Auction houses and independent auctioneers have been added throughout the continent of Calypso. These points of trade will increase the commerce between participants and societies. Everything that normally can be traded between participants can be traded on the global auction market.
Enhanced Communication between Participants

Several enhancements have been made to ensure secure communication between participants. A new special Society tab has been added for intra-society communication. A “Friends” list has also been added, in which a participant can add friends to and chat with them directly if they are online, regardless of distance. All messages sent and received through the Friends-list are also saved in the client folder, in a file called “FriendChat.txt”.
Clothes Making

The avatars now can make clothes using raw material from the fauna of Calypso. The system works a lot like the construction system with raw material, a blueprint of the design one wants to make, and a special machine for performing the action.
Colorize

Participants can also colorize their newly created clothes to suit their own style and feeling.
Added Uniforms

Official MindArk representatives present in Project Entropia will have distinct clothing showing they are officials. Also, several of the NPC traders have received special clothes.
Avatar Information Sheet Present

A new section displaying the Avatar skill, skill levels, skill ranks, and skill XP has been designed. The section also has info about the avatar name, social status and professional standings. This information section has also been prepared for future implementation of avatar reputation, fame and credibility, as well as background, trivia and statistics.
Added Boxing Ring

Boxing rings have been added. These work like limited PvP areas where combat can take place. The rules are set by the participants.
Added Production Platform

An Omegaton Survey Probe Ship has dispatched an automated production platform. This platform has gone missing and Omegaton has even denied any knowledge about its whereabouts. Rumor has it that it indeed functions and is pumping crude oil out into the open, free for grabs!
Added Catwalk

A catwalk stage has been built just outside the fashionable Nymphtown, to enhance fashion shows, dance competitions, and other kinds of entertainment.
Added Range Information to Items Info

The items info view port now displays the range for all ranged weapons.
Changed Condition Function

Items now stop working at a condition of 10%, instead of 0% as before.
Several Updates in the Skills Section

Many new skills have been added. More details are also now available on the descriptions of several skills.
Fierce Monsters

Several monsters have evolved on the Calypso surface.
More Items

The stock of items present in Project Entropia has been expanded, with new weapons, armors, tools, and other items.
Added Support for Credit Cards

The Project Entropia Bank now has support for Visa once again. In the future, Diners Club, and American Express cards will also be supported. NOTE! THE VISA FUNCTION WILL COME ONLINE A FEW DAYS AFTER THE ACTUAL VU IS RELEASED!!
Robots are Gaining Strength

While attempting to strike at Calypso settlements several times already, the robots have something else up their collective sleeve. Some unconfirmed data reports at least one new type of robot never before seen.
Support for DirectX 9 Implemented

Project Entropia now has DirectX 9 support. Please note that from this update forward, Project Entropia requires Microsoft(r) DirectX(r) version 9.0, which can be obtained from Microsoft’s official site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/.
New Entry Points for Newcomers

Newcomers to Calypso will find themselves closer to civilized areas.
New Sound Engine

Project Entropia now has a completely new sound system in place, which will grant Project Entropia much better options using sound and music as mood enhancers and to create cool effects.
Ghost Jumping

The restless soul of a dead Avatar can now jump.
General Updates to the Client Software

Several fixes and updates have been performed on the Project Entropia Client Software to increase stability and performance.
Client Error Messages Updated

The error messages given to participants when they fail to connect to Project Entropia have been updated and are streamlined.
Zombie Creatures Be Gone

The problem with “undead” creatures striking back after they have been killed has been fixed.
Rebalancing

Almost every system has been reviewed and rebalanced somewhat.
KNOWN ISSUES

Yes, you can run through trees. This is not a bug.
Missing icons on clothes and items

On certain PC configurations sometimes the item icons in the inventory become invisible, or you receive a dummy icon called “Unable to show”. If this happens to you, please update to the latest video card drivers, check if Project Entropia officially supports your video card, and also change the video settings on the Setup button in the initial login screen. If this fails, please contact the Project Entropia Support Team.
Tab key does not work

The function of the tab key has gone missing.
Society chat and Kicked Out Members

When a society member is kicked out of his or her society, the former member is still allowed to use and listen to the Society Chat messages, until the former member logs off Project Entropia.
Reverb

Project Entropia now supports environmental effects set in applications like Creative(r) Surround Mixer(r). If you experience exaggerated reverb effects in Project Entropia you should check your surround mixer settings, and disable “game effects” if necessary.
SPECIAL
Scan

The first time you scan an entity in Project Entropia after VU 4.4, your will transfer your level in “Enemy Scan” to the four skills “Scan Human”, “Scan Animal”, “Scan Robot”, and “Scan Mutant”. The skill Enemy Scan is removed. For example: You have Enemy Scan level 50. The first time you scan an entity you will gain level 50 to “Scan Human”, “Scan Animal”, “Scan Robot”, and “Scan Mutant”.

Project Entropia Version Update 4.5

2003-04-09 – Source

On our light-board here at the office, the motto for 4.5 is up. It reads:

“Lag kills. Defeat lag.”

It will be a challenge. Really. But we have lag as the number one issue to solve, because it has ripple effects into every other system. Content will be next to nil in 4.5 – almost every resource we have is working on fixing the lag problems, may it be server lag, client lag, memory usage, memory leaks, whatever.

For some other disappointing news, the technical manager has determined that there is not enough resources available to apply external testers to the inhouse servers in time for VU 4.5. I will try to continue persuading him, but I think it will be hard.
Update

2003-04-25 – Source

A quick update – the lag reducing efforts are being tested inhouse, and moves along nicely. The main area that is addressed is rubberbanding, synching between client and server and primarily that kind of lag. We have also reduced load on the databases. Login and logoff is also sped up.

Minor areas in 4.5 is the client lag when entering cities (which lag due to data being loaded from your harddrive) and when many avatars are in view. These areas will be better, but the big improvements there will be in 4.6, or later.

Updates in the auction are being done. It is mainly bugfixes and no new functionallity.

The main content part of VU 4.5 is the ability to team up and share loot.

VU 4.5 will come in two parts, with about a week of each other, in the first half of May.

Lag has been pretty bad the last few days. The reason for this is a great influx of new participants. This makes the 4.5 VU even more needed.

Lag Kills! Defeat Lag!

Project Entropia Version Update 5.0

2003-05-05

Hello! Its great to be back! I have annoyed the devs to gather info about what is going on. Many of you have questions about the VU and stuff.
Version naming

As the next update is a great architectural change compared to Project Entropia right now, the next VU will be called 5.0. The content part will be called VU 5.1.

ETA of next Version VU 5.0 will come around the middle of the month, give or take. VU 5.1 will arrive roughly a week after VU 5.0.
What is in VU 5.0?

No content whatsoever. VU5.0 is an architectural change (or re-write, as some of our veterans may remember, as we changed the communication system between the servers last fall) in how the server actually behaves in regards to synching between client and server, how the priorities in data handling and how the server makes better use of its time.

Previously several systems where affected by the simple fact that an Avatar was logging in, and this made the physics system (the system that takes care of synching positions, movement etc) freeze for up to a few seconds (other areas where also affected with these freezes, making rubberbanding a painful fact). The server was effectively “locked” from action while this happened. This is removed in VU 5.0. It was not an easy task to do, and there will probably be some initial bugs but the way it has been done, we can make updates quite fast (without any serious downtime), if needed.

These “freezes” was the fact that made the rubberbanding an heavy issue when a server was full of Avatars moving around – the physics system did not have the time to make accurate updates. To summarize – the rubberbanding should be lessened by a great amount once VU 5.0 is applied. Minor areas that are also improved by this change is login and logoff time, as well as some transactions and database operations.
What is not in VU 5.0?

We have another area that causes “lag”. That is the streaming of buildings, Avatars and items (like when you approach an Outpost, the harddrive is busy loading models and textures, and this causes “lag”). Another is when many Avatars are in your own surrounding, as they are also streamed to your client (“streamed” as in data loaded from your harddrive – not as streamed over the Internet). These areas has not been updated in VU 5.0. They are next inline for major updates, and the tech guys say that they should be ready by VU 5.2 (scheduled about one to one-and-a-half month after VU 5.0). By VU 5.2 many sources of the now infamous (and extremely annoying) CTD (crash to desktop) problems should be eliminated.
Bomb Reimbursement

While I was away the Bomb Reimbursement Programme was performed. This was the programme where a participant while mining blew up an entire stack of bombs instead of a single bomb. Nothing else. Probes has not been reimbursed yet, but will come. If anyone feels that they are affected by the above problem and has not been given their bombs back (check your Storage Terminal), please contact Project Entropia Support.
Random amount of PEDs, PECs, and ammo in the Storage Terminal

Once in a while you may find money or items in your storage terminal that you do not remember placing there. This is often due to lagginess in the loot system, and the items are then placed in your storage terminal.
The Merge bug on the 28th and 29th.

Those that lost ammo and other stackable items during the above time period due to the merging bug will get their items back as soon as the analyzis and Programme has been finalized. I have no ETA on this, though. It is a great amount of logs and database records that needs to be verified and cross-checked, thus it takes a lot of time. Please bear with us on this.
Ideas Forum

I will this week make comments on the ideas in the Ideas forum. I do read them, but I believe that the lack of feedback from us is frustrating. Therefore I will be more active in that board.
Auction problems – items invisible

There are instances where auction items are placed in the avatars inventory, but is not updated correctly, thus not showing to the participant. We are aware of this and an investigation is at hand. This is going to be corrected.

Project Entropia Version Update 5.1

2003-06-13

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING STRANGE IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
Welcome!

The Version Update 5.1 (“VU 5.1”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document. We are still heavy at work with the mission to reduce lag and increase performance. In the upcoming VU 5.2 the new Item Management System will be in place, and once it is, we envision that all problems correlating to items will be solved once and for all. This release will make way to this major upgrade.

Please check the Known Issues section in the Support section on the Project Entropia web site for current issues. Also, the best place for up to date info about what is going on is the Project Entropia Developer’s Post forum on the Project Entropia web site. VU 5.1 is expected to arrive around the 20:th of June. The date may change though.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Attachment crafting level 6-10

Attachment crafting on level 6-10 is in, together with the associated components needed. At the moment none of these designs require Lysterium. ,-)
The Project Entropia Newcomer Shuttle Port

Just south of Port Atlantis the Federal Empire has built a Shuttle Port, where all newcomers arrive when coming to Calypso. This area has information booths available, giving the basics of Project Entropia.
Project Entropia Transfer Center

The old Project Entropia Bank is replaced by the new Project Entropia Transfer Center.
New deposit option

For those who do not have a credit card a new pay-by-phone option is implemented in the new Project Entropia Transfer Center. Just pick up the phone, dial a number, and you get PED to your avatar, while your phone bill is charged.
Avatar Trivia and Avatar Background

The avatar has the possibility to make a personal presentation of himself in the Avatar Interface that will be visible to other Avatars.
Rebalance success rates while crafting and mining

Generally you will succeed with your action more often, but the output value is reduced.
Rebalanced skill advancement

Several skills now have a higher increase rate, mostly those that have less skill checks per time frame. This mostly affects mining and crafting, and does not affect hunting much.
Rebalanced attribute advancement

The attributes now increase in greater steps than before, especially at lower levels.
Possibility to learn from mistake

When failing using a skill the avatar still has a small chance of raising the skill.
Dynamic XP message

The XP gain messages have been updated somewhat.
Society in target square

When targeting an avatar the society the avatar is a member of will show in the target square.
Feedback on 15% Condition

When an item is deteriorated to 15% of its full Condition a message will tell the participant it’s a good time to consider repairing the item.
Recharge delay bar on melee weapons

When using a melee weapon a delay bar will show when the weapon is ready for use again.
What killed the avatar?

When being killed the avatar will get a message in the chat window that says what killed the avatar.
Trader NPC’s have “uniforms”

All the trader NPC’s (Technician, Auctioneer, etc) have similar clothes as other NPC’s of the same kind, to distinguish them more easily.
Change of stock in the Trade Terminal

The Trade Terminal will have new weapons available, the Omegaton M2200 and the Sollomate Busho.
New weapons

New weapons are added.
New tools

New tools are added.
New armors

New armors are added. Shadow is no longer king of the hill. ,-)
Updated component names

Several components have name updates, mostly the word “Parts” have been added.
NPC’s are talkative

Several NPC’s have a lot more to say.
New NPC’s / Monsters

New species will inhabit the continent.
Tougher NPC’s / Monsters

Bigger, meaner and more dangerous forms of already existing npc’s will appear.
More NPC’s / Monsters

Despite all hunting the numbers of existing monsters is steadily growing.
The NPC’s / Monsters will make more sounds

Several new sounds have been implemented on the NPC’s / Monsters.
NPC / Monster AI is optimized

Several of the Monsters have new AI controlling them. Expect less passive monsters.
Lost ruins

Somewhere on the continent a ruined city has been found. Unfortunately the coordinates to its location were lost in the transmission.
Minopolis

The new city of Minopolis founded, located some distance north of Nymphtown. This is a city designed in a new way, with a more distinct look than the old outposts. Several of the outposts will soon grow to new looks.
Added facilities to outposts

Storage terminals and auctioneers will be present in more outposts than today.
New looks of the old outposts

Several outposts have new looks.
Changing skies

The first step in the future Weather system is in place – the sky will change depending on where you are on the Eudoria continent.
Items in auction

The avatars will always see the items they select.
Healing is reduced when moving

If you are trying to heal using a medkit when moving the result will be diminished to about a quarter of the normal heal rate.
Deterioration per use

Weapon attachments now have the correct “deteriorate per use” set.
New animations and sounds when dying

The avatar can now be killed in more varied ways than before.
New animations and sounds when using melee weapons

New animations and sounds added to a variety of melee weapons, most notable on the powerfists.
Leader becomes founder

Prior, the founder of a society was titled “Leader”. This is changed to “Founder”.
None becomes Freelancer

Prior, an avatar not a member of a society had society rank “None”. This is changed to him or her being “Freelancer” instead.
New music

A lot of new ambient music has been added.
Skill management system changed

The skill management code has been optimised to increase performance. This will decrease the strain on the systems, and will reduce the login and logoff times.
Several performance / lag fixes

Many steps have been taken to increase performance and to reduce lag. We are still in the process of making several heavy upgrades, which will come in VU 5.2.
Audio system

The audio system is optimised.
Database

The database is optimized. This will help performance, until the major re-write of the item management system is implemented in VU 5.2.
SPECIAL

The below is currently tentative, and might not make it to VU 5.1.
Teams

You have the opportunity to form temporary groups with other avatars. You will see the other team member’s health status. A series of click-commands are also in place. Loot distribution is automatic within the group, and every member has full insight on what is going on. Items will be distributed randomly among the members, while stackable items are split as evenly as possible throughout the group.

Project Entropia Version Update 5.2

2003-10-15

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING STRANGE IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 5.2 (“VU 5.2”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
SYSTEM UPGRADES
Item Management System

The Item Management System of Project Entropia has been extensively upgraded. This means that the internal system handling all items and transactions has been upgraded, to increase performance and to reduce the number of issues occurring in regards to item manipulation.

As Project Entropia is built to utilize maximum security, all item manipulation and trades are conducted on the secure server, before the client shows what’s going on (the Project Entropia client does not hold any vital data whatsoever). This has sometimes caused confusion, as the client predicts actions. These predictions have sometimes shown incorrectly on the client, even though everything is perfectly okay on the server. The most common area where misunderstandings occur is the shown ammunition when quickly logging off and logging on again.

One obvious change is that the participant may notice some of his or her items become “faded” into a blue-gray icon when moved. This means that the item is currently being handled by the server and cannot be manipulated until the server says so. This has always been the case, but before it was not shown to the participant.
Inventory

The inventory functions have been revamped. One of the areas that has been an issue for participants using slow connections is synching of items between the Project Entropia Servers and the client software on the participant’s own computer. The major reason for participants’ timing-out, crashing, starting with “no inventory in newbie clothes”, etc was due to the sheer number of items in the avatar inventory. Even though no real problems were derived from this, it caused confusion. Therefore, we have made several upgrades to reduce this behavior.

One major change is the introduction of “container” items, which are boxes, cases, chests, etc in which items are stored. The system only synchs items between the server and client that are in the currently used container, meaning that a participant will not experience long load times while logging onto Project Entropia, but will experience somewhat longer load time while manipulating cases of different kinds, as the containers are synched when accessed. With the containers, the synching of items has been distributed to many different areas, instead of one giant area. Please feel free to put seldom-used items in a special container and leave them be – then that container won’t use your connection or disturb your load times.

In future releases more types of containers will be implemented, even such that will bring a reduction to the weight carried in it. At the moment a participant cannot drag items to a closed container, but must open it to place items inside.

An inventory can at most show 500 items. More items than that in an inventory will render the additional items invisible. MindArk strongly recommends that participants restrain themselves to have inventories with max 200 items. More items will cause performance hits on you, loss of connection and possibly other strange effects, especially if you have a lesser connection (below 2Mbit) or have an ISP of lesser quality.
Auction

The auction system is completely redone to eliminate the issues with “stuck items”. Also, the interface has been redone to utilize for much meaner and leaner operations. The new auction has a fee of one PED for each item put on the auction, to reduce “Spam”. When VU 5.2 is applied, all current bids are nullified and returned, and all items offered are also returned to respective participant. The new auction will therefore be completely empty directly after the VU 5.2 is applied.

Another area that is upgraded is how transactions in the auction are handled. Instead of the participant needing to visit the auctioneer to get the latest info, all such messages are handled in real time. If a participant is offline, the message will be stored until he or she logs on again. All money is also transferred the moment a change occurs. The only thing that has to be manually collected is an item won.
Crafting

As stated above, the major reason for having performance problems is due to a high number of items. One of the most cumbersome areas is crafting, or more specifically, the blueprints. Therefore there have been changes to the crafting system. The number of unique blueprints has been reduced to about half, and some crafting categories have disappeared (Tool, Weapon, Armor, and Attachment Components, and Tailoring Materials) completely. The associated skills have also been removed. Some skills have also changed name (the old “Assembling” skills are now called “Manufacturing” instead, and the old “Manufacturing”-skill are removed). Those who have blueprints and/or skills in these areas should read the “Compensation” section, below, before contacting MindArk.

The crafting system overall has been changed in that way that there are no longer any overlaps between lootable items and craftable items. All craftable items are craftable only. Therefore, a whole range of new craftable items is introduced. With this, several new minerals and EnMatters have been introduced as well.

Tailoring now works more like the rest of crafting. You have a raw material; you use a refiner on it and get a refined piece of material you can use together with a blueprint to make clothes.

The Manufacturing Interface is also revamped, and more logical than before. The participant is also informed on the relative chance of success, based on skills, blueprint QR and the level of difficulty.

Overall, the crafting system is somewhat easier to manage, with fewer steps needed from start to finish.

We are very much aware of that this is a major change and can feel like a letdown for some participants. This simply had to be done; otherwise the crafting area of Project Entropia would hamper performance across the board for every participant.
Compensation

There is an automatic compensation system in place when you load up Project Entropia the first time after the VU. If you are entitled to any compensation you will receive messages to that effect. Obsolete blueprints and components will be changed to current blueprints (with QR 1) and into minerals. Items/money stuck in the auction will be returned to your personal storage facility. Also, those affected by lost Quality Rating (including QR on converted blueprints) will be reimbursed for this, in a compensation system, where the participant can select which kind of compensation he or she desires. In this compensation system obsolete skills are also taken in consideration.
PCGamer Quest

Those participants that joined Project Entropia through the client distributed on the PCGamer (US) edition also have a special quest available.
MIXED FIXES/UPGRADES

In no particular order:
If you lose connection to the chat server the system automatically tries to re-logon, without the need to re-logon Project Entropia.
Added a connection indicator in the client. A three-lights display is located by the radar. If the load is light, they are green. If the load is heavy, it changes to yellow, and if the load is high, it changes to red. This display is updated a couple of times per minute.
Added functionality to the Friends-list, indicating when friends come on- and offline.
Added new, more Asian looking face textures to Avatar Creation Interface.
Upgraded the performance substantially in the Fast key Interface.
Added new music and sounds.
“Nothing to loot here” – The frequency is reduced, but you will still encounter critters with no loot. It’s not a bug.
Updated an instance where client-to-client synch mismatched in PvP Trade.
The Hadesheim Siren is now silenced when no attacks are in progress.
Updated functions when stacks are split, to show more accurate info in the client.
Update the servers extensively to reduce lag and performance slowdowns.
Several new items added, especially high-level equipment.
T-key changed to move stuck avatars to a random location, instead of a fixed.
Fixed so newbie clothes should not multiply.
Fixed an issue with claim deeds not being removed after deposit was depleted.
Updated the defense turrets.
Updated that both parties engaging in a PvP Chat gets automatic focus in the Chat window.
Fixed an issue with blueprints weighing double if inserted into a blueprint book.
Fixed an issue with items picked up from the ground weighing incorrect.
Fixed a minor issue with the selected title being reset to the top one in the Avatar Information interface with each login.
Fixed an issue with being able to vote multiple times in the Vote Booth.
Fixed an issue where uncolored clothes could not be used in the Coloring Interface.
Further secured the Trade Terminal Interface.
Upgraded how the teleporters behave if the system is under heavy load.
Upgraded the looks and functionality on the various Loot Interfaces.
Empty blueprints books are now sellable.
Fixed issues in the Repair Interface when using the quick-buttons (not making items un-accessible anymore).
Quality Rating on Blueprints associated with Value, meaning that Value will rise with higher QR, to the max of one PED at QR 100.
Fixed an issue with a full inventory covering buttons in the auction.
Fixed an issue with current value/condition not always showing the correct amount in the auction.
Several upgrades of functionality in the PvP Trade Interface, most noticeably the removal of “Cancel” functionality once “Accept” is pressed. You may however cancel once the order confirmation is presented.
Clothes and armor with a value/condition of zero are not wearable (exception: newbie clothes).
The autofire bug (the weapon could uncontrollably fire due to an ALT+TAB change) is eliminated.
Fixed an issue with the PED Card while withdrawing PEC, making the PED Card crash.
Fixed an issue with ever-active decoys.
Corrected a client bug when merging two full stacks, one stack would go missing.
Corrected some tool tip errors.
Added more detailed error messages for rarer instances.
Fixed an old issue that allowed avatars to chat even while dead using the Focus button.
Fixed various graphical glitches.
An avatar should only have one set of newbie clothes.
Many items have enhanced looks in Items Info view port.
Fixed a potential issue with the mouse pointer focus changing when someone requests a PVP Trade or PvP Chat. The pointer does not automatically change to pointer mode now.
Fixed “leveling” of blueprint books (visual leveling).
Enhanced the Trivia/Background info.
Enhanced the messaging when leaving/entering PvP zones, to ensure the message is displayed.
Fixed the prefix elimination on “Uncolored” clothes when colored.
Fixed an issue with commands being sent to the Main Chat instead of the PvP Chat.
Fixed an issue with NPCs just spinning round and round.
Rebalanced success rates while crafting and mining. Generally you will succeed with your action more often, but the output value is reduced.
Rebalanced skill advancement. Several skills now have a higher increase rate, mostly those that have less skill checks per time frame. This mostly affects mining and crafting, and does not affect hunting much.
Update to the PvP Chat informing the other party when the first party left the chat.
Fixed so the Avatar busy message is shown correctly.
Updated the boxing ring bell to have a two second delay.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES

In no particular order
You can’t repair a weapon with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.
Currently, the virtual companies on the Exchange don’t offer any shares.
The drill tower cannot be accessed. The minerals within it will be transferred
VU 5.2.1

29 Oct, 2003 – Source

Hello crew, Today’s update was a minor bugfix-update. Most noticeable is the increased spawn rate for the new minerals, and the completely new Support Section. The PE web page and Support is a work in progress and have some glitches right now, it will be fixed the following days.

For those of you who get an error when watching – this is due to an updated DNS entry (meaning that the pages are now at a different address, and the servers on the Internet that act like “phonebooks” sometimes are slow to update this info). Please familiarize yourself with the new Support section. Mail to Support will still work, but will soon be shut off. You get the picture when you browse the new Support. You may change your login the first time you enter info into the Account info. Please note that the account info given here is for everything you do with PE and/or MA. This update includes several lag fixes, but we still have some lag monsters that needs to get killed.

The devs have found a major culprit and will annihilate him as soon as possible (even if it might take a while). In the future, the annoying “overweight when logging in” bug, as well as the “HoF strangeness” bug, will be fixed. A note to miners, some resources expiry dates acts up, showing strange data (like expiry on the year 24567). Such deposits should be extracted as fast as possible, as they may disappear within a minute’s time.

Project Entropia Version Update 5.3

2003-11-24

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING STRANGE IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 5.3 (“VU 5.3”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Housing system

The first version of the PE housing system is in place! Several small communities have been set up for future buildings. You can acquire your own house by bidding on the corresponding lot deeds in the auction. The lot deed’s item info (right-clicking on the deed) shows the location of the lot and house. You may also store items safely in your house. In the next VU’s the system will be enhanced and will allow an almost complete customizability. The supply of houses on Calypso will be quite limited, and we will not litter the countryside with houses.
Space travel

The initial steps has been taken in the quest of personalized space travel.
Interactive content

In PE there you can now find the first of a series of puzzles, or “quests”, requiring in-universe manipulation of items and scenery. Search and find out!
Map

The map is updated with the new house communities, as yellow dots. If you hover the mouse pointer over one of these, you get a tooltip displaying the name of the location.
Mindforce

Mindforce is introduced! The first version is in, allowing for the use of extra sensory powers. You need a Mindforce implant to use the Power chips found here and there. To activate a Power, you need to have it in your fast key interface and use the corresponding F1-F12 key. One Mindforce can be used without any equipment though, and that is the Sweat gathering skill. If you have nothing equipped in your hands, you may use this power. The requirement is that you are close to the creature you want to extract its fluids from.
New EnMatter

A new Energy Matter is available, which is one of the two parts of making the Mind Essence energy needed for using Mindforce Powers. You combine this EnMatter with the other part in a EnMatter refiner to make the Mind Essence.
Crafting Equipment

Some of the “Equipment” crafting (Mechanical, Metal, Electronics) material have been updated to be used at various places on Calypso.
Skills

New skills have been added in the Mindforce section of the Avatar Information Interface.
Fast key

The performance of the fast key system is enhanced.
Friends chat

If you receive a message from a person not on your Friends list, you now get the info that the person isn’t on your list, as well as you see who it is.
Server load indicator

The Server load indicator is upgraded to more actively show the system load. A indicator in the reds may indicate that the system might be heavily loaded, and can affect the experience. However, this is not an exact indicator.
Avatar weight calculation

An error in the avatar weight calculation when logging on has been fixed.
Decoy

An issue concerning decoys and logging off has been corrected.
Teleport stacking

Sometimes when several avatars teleported to the same place at the same time, they got stacked on top of each other. This has been fixed.
Containers

Several minor glitches with containers have been fixed.
Lag/stability fixes

Several server and client updates have been applied to reduce lag and performance slowdowns. The system login process is enhanced, as well as how a participant performs – an avatar performing a lot of activities may experience “lag” him-/herself, but other participants do not get as affected as prior to VU 5.3.
Nude avatar

By manipulating the inventory interface, you could make your avatar nude. This has been fixed.
Spelling errors

Spelling errors have been fixed.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
You can’t repair a weapon with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.
Currently, the virtual companies on the Exchange doesn’t offer any shares.
Sometimes attachments may detach from a weapon when logging on.
The Team chat is not always initiated when the Team Leader invites the first member.
Some kind of items cannot be placed in a house.
Hall of Fame does not display time correctly in the 24 hours section.

Project Entropia Version Update 5.4

2003-12-17

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 5.4 (“VU 5.4”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document.
Update Personal Info

You must update your Project Entropia account info through the Project Entropia Support section. Logon using your standard Project Entropia Login and Password. Account with faulty information will be locked down and a dialogue will be initiated with the person handling the account.
Old Support Mail

In VU 5.3 a new Support Section was launched, which is available through the Project Entropia client and through the Project Entropia web page. Now when this new system is up and running all future communication/support inquiries will go through the Project Entropia Support Case Center (“PESCC”). This means that old unresolved matters that was supplied using email needs to be entered by the participant into the PESCC to be attended by the MA Support staff.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Christmas season

MindArk continues the tradition started last Christmas, with presents to the active and contributing participants.
Enhanced Manufacturing

Added the Apprentice Level of manufacturing weapons, armor, and clothes.
More weapons

Some 100 weapons added to Project Entropia, of various performances. Among these several new models are introduced, like a dedicated BLP Submachine-gun. Several of these weapons are manufactured, even various BLP rifles.
More armor

Almost a dozen new armor sets added, including the new “Undead”-series.
More clothes and accessories

With the enhanced level in tailoring several new kinds of clothes can be found and/or made. A tailor may now make coats, jackets, miniskirts, boots, hats, shades, etc.
Coloring re-vamped

The coloring functionality changed to be clearer. It now shows the Chance of Success (as in Manufacturing) of coloring an item to best possible output.
New paints added

Several new paints have been added, allowing for even greater variety of participant-colored clothes.
Chance of Success update

The various levels of feedback when the Chance of Success is displayed (currently in the Manufacturing Interface and the Coloring Interface) has been split up into more steps, meaning you will see a more rapid advancement to your chance of success.
Skill increase changes

Skills related to the Mining and Manufacturing areas have received enhanced increase rates.
Blueprint acquiring

The chance of getting a new blueprint while manufacturing is enhanced. The chance of getting a blueprint that can be bought from the Trade Terminal is removed.
Added Mindforce

Several Mindforce upgrades added, as well as a completely new Mindforce power.
Project Entropia Smart Card Verification system

Are you sure that your personal computer is clean from viruses and key-sniffing hacker tools that is gathering data, passwords and other personal information? In a world where malicious intrusions on home computers are more and more common, one cannot be too secure with sensitive information.

Add an even higher level of security to your Project Entropia account with this Project Entropia Gold Member Smart Card Verification system. With this combined Smart Card and Smart Card Reader your Project Entropia login procedure will have a level of security equal to the most secure real life banks. The Smart Card includes a personalized CPU Unit that creates a unique verification password each time you logon to Project Entropia. This means you never use the same password twice, rendering unwanted attempts to acquire your password obsolete.
Become Lord of the Manor – A castle is available!

Who will be the proud owner of the Calypso Castle?
More functions added to Hangars

Are you one of those with a pioneering soul and lust to reach the stars above? Space has never been closer.
Portable terminals

There are now portable terminals available, that can be placed where the participant feels is a good spot. Remember that placing an item out in the open means that anyone can pick it up though, so be advised to place it in a secure location, like a house. To access a portable terminal, you need to SHIFT+Right click on it.
House decorations

Several new ways of personalizing your house is introduced.
Increased some mineral availability

Some of the rare minerals and enmatters have become somewhat less rare.
Updated Drop functions

The Drop Item request is updated to inform about the fact that anyone may pick up dropped items. Also, when dropping items, the item is placed below the avatar position, positioned in the same facing as the avatar.
Merge of skills

The skills “Make Pants” and “Make Shirt” have been merged to “Make Clothes”, and the old skill levels have been added up.
Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame 24h section is updated.
Fixed a mismatch of Tailoring blueprint level in Items Info

Some tailoring blueprints showed as having level one when they indeed had a higher level.
Change of Plasma category

The Plasma rifle is now under the correct section “Rifle” in the Auction.
Mindforce animations

Fixed some animation-lockups when using Mindforce.
Stackable items invisible fix

Corrected a rare issue with merged stackable items becoming invisible on the client.
Manufactured items with negative value

Fixed an issue with manufactured items in rare instances having a negative value.
Auction time change

The added time to an offer in the auction if it is about to expire is changed from 15 minutes to six minutes.
PK and teleporting

Fixed an issue where the PK status was not updated correctly when teleporting while in the 30 second “grace period”.
Billy Revival Terminal

Updated an issue with reviving at the Billy Spaceship Afterworld making the avatar invisible for some monsters.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
You can’t repair a weapon with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.
You cannot drop item onto a hangar floor.
Currently, the virtual companies on the Exchange doesn’t offer any shares.
Sometimes attachments may detach from a weapon when logging on.
The Team chat is not always initiated when the Team Leader invites the first member.
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored. There are some issues with the Society terminals that will be fixed in next VU. Some laser carbines have the wrong graphics on the client when shown in the auction. They appear “fatter” than they should be. The looks is correct outside the auction after a logon.
List of 5.4 mini updates
System updated (5.4.0.4) [2004-01-08]
Fixed the names in the auction for the new paints.
Fixed an icon issue with Attachment blueprints (they all showed being level I, regardless of actual level).
Some minor stability fixes.
System updated (5.4.0.3) [2003-12-21]
Fixed an issue with “Corrupt Paladin arm-guards” in the loot. The correct armor will be found in the storage terminal.
System updated (5.4.0.2) [2003-12-19]
Fixed an issue with “gluefeet” when moving on rolling terrain.
Updated accuracy synch between server and client
System updated (5.4.0.1) [2003-12-18]
Fixed an issue with “stickiness” when moving near walls and up ramps.
Updated a skill experience bug with Laser Weaponry Technology, BLP Weaponry Technology, and Plasma Weaponry Technology, where the increase rate was to high above the level of 3000.

Project Entropia Version Update 5.5

2004-02-17

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 5.5 (“VU 5.5”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
New Society system

A completely new society system added. Societies are an integral part of PE structure and development in the virtual universe. Therefore a lot of energy has been put into the design and the functionality. Among the new society features included are:
Society Themes/Template, with corresponding Society Ranks/Hierarchy within the society. This will allow for advancement, promotions and more responsibility and privileges. Gaining power within a society means you also have more rights to actively perform actions.
Easy to use search engine, that makes searching for societies very easy.
Diplomatic Relations, meaning you may set an official posture against another Society to show whether they are your enemies or friends.
An intra-Society Allegiance system, for internal power struggles about the top position within the society. Make your own candidacy for being the supreme leader and fight for the members respect and their votes!
Leaderboard High scores, which will show various prosperous societies on a high-score ranking list.
Detailed Society Info and History, be known as the founder of a society, add required equipment, choose administration, select areas of pursuit, and much more.
Member Roster management, an easy to use system for searching for members, add them as friends at an instant, upgrade avatar status within the Soc, or punish the bad apples immediately.

More info about the society functions is available through the help sections in the actual society system in Project Entropia.
New PvP Zone with avatar looting presented

During a deep-core drilling operation Omegaton Industries happen to release toxic fumes in the mountains south of Echidna. This resulted in an excruciating death for all human beings in the area. Mutants and robots have dismantled the mining site, but records of the event have been found in the public. These records indicate a very rich area of rare minerals, the reason Omegaton ventured out there in the first place.

However, the zone is considered contaminated and normal protection levels are reduced, meaning any avatar who ventures into this zone is susceptible of looting by others. All stackable items (except ammo packs/cells, decoys, bombs/probes, and PED/PECs) are at risk when getting killed within the zone, together with any non-stackable item found in the zone.

The trade terminals supply an anti-toxic shot that allows for travel within the contaminated zone. The shot is in effect until the avatar is killed in the zone. If killed outside the zone the shot still stays in effect. If an avatar is killed in the zone he or she is instantly transported away from the zone to the last resurrection point or to Port Atlantis, if no such point exists. Even the ghosts fear the toxic area.
Participant-run shops added

Added shops to Project Entropia. An avatar may set up a shop on any estate lot he or she owns. The shopkeeper will stand vigilante 24/7 offering the goods the owner put up for sale.
New business lots in Hadesheim available

Several estate lots suitable for the participant-run shops are available in Hadesheim.
Skins usable in tailoring

Animal-specific skins can be refined into leather counter-parts. If you have good enough skill you may add animal leather to any tailoring design by putting the leather into the manufacturing interface. The Berycled coat is rumoured to be the fashion statement during the spring.
New creatures

A lot of new creatures have been spotted by explorers. Someone reported that even the infamous Araneatrox was brutally slain by these new menaces.
General creature update

Several changes has been applied to the creature on the continent Eudoria. The way they attack, their size and speed, the damage done and health level are revised. Some nasty surprises lurk in the dense Calyso underbrush. Someone even said the snablesnot seemed to have a cold…
Redesigned outposts

A new technical system added to Project Entropia, adding area-specific line of sight. This means that in some instances you will not see avatars located within buildings while you are outside of them. This includes visibility on the radar. This action enhances client performance and distributes load times.
Chat spam precautions

Some basic level chat spam prevention has been added to the main chat.
Logoff delay

A 20 second logoff delay has been introduced to counter potential misuse of the logoff functions. Even if your client loses connection to the server, your avatar will remain vulnerable during this time period.
Paint cans changes

All new paint cans come with a skill requirement. All old cans can still be used as before and are not affected by the skill requirement limit. If you add new cans to a stack of old cans, the old cans will be affected by the skill requirement.
Space ship enhancement

Take your position and be ready for launch, experience the feeling of commanding a space ship as a gunner, pilot or navigator.
Resting

Avatars may now sit or lie down, as well as placing oneself onto various chairs.
Right-click menu

You will have access to a right-click menu if you SHIFT+Right-click.
Shortcut to Friends

The keyboard key “j” is used for quick access to the Friends Interface. The Friends interface can also be moved outside of the screen, to save space.
Added functions to manufacturing

You may now add several stacks of the same material in the manufacturing interface, if you so desire.
Added Mindforce

Several Mindforce upgrades added, as well as a completely new Mindforce power. Rumours have it there are a revival Mindforce chip in existence.
Blueprint acquiring

The chance of getting a new blueprint while manufacturing is enhanced.
More weapons

New weapons added.
More armor

New armor sets added.
House decorations

Several new ways of personalizing your house is introduced.
More clothes

More festive clothing added.
More items

A news bulletin states that mutants has robbed a Toy Cargo ship…
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
You can’t repair a weapon with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.
Currently, the virtual companies on the Exchange doesn’t offer any shares.
Sometimes attachments may detach from a weapon when logging on.
The Team chat is not always initiated when the Team Leader invites the first member.
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.

Project Entropia Version Update 5.6

2004-03-05

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 5.6 (“VU 5.6”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document.
Project Entropia Gold Member Smartcard Security System

The Project Entropia Gold Member security system goes live with VU 5.6. Those who have acquired the Smartcard and Reader (through the Trade Terminal Real Life Items section) should receive the equipment during April, to the address supplied with the Project Entropia account. If you need to update the info, please do it as soon as possible through the Project Entropia Support Section.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Mentor & Disciple system

We are aware of the great effort our participants put into helping newcomers to Calypso and making them feel welcome. To show our appreciation for this we have decided implemented a Mentor & Disciple system. Being a mentor is about helping newcomers get a foothold in the new universe. When you offer your help to a newcomer, and they accept, they become your disciple and you become their mentor. As a mentor you advice your disciples and support them in their advancement. When a disciple reaches certain skill levels, the disciple is deemed to be sufficiently trained to manage on her or his own.

At this point the mentor receives special surprise gifts as a reward for helping out. Some details about the Mentor system:
A mentor “Adds disciples” by right-clicking on the potential disciple.
To be able to act as a mentor you need to at least have reached the level “Unskilled” in any one professional standing (seen in the left section of the Avatar Info interface).
To be eligible as a disciple you must be “Newcomer” in all of your professional standings (including Sweat Gatherer). This means as soon as a Newcomer achieves the rank of “Inept” (the rank above “Newcomer”) in any professional standing, they may not be selected as a disciple.
When the disciple reaches certain skill levels, the Mentor reward kicks in. The Mentor has a progress rating on each disciple in his training. The actual skill levels are shown in the Disciples interface. The skill goal is quite high as the rewards are special items only acquired through this means.
A mentor can have a maximum of 100 disciples at once. The mentor can at any time contact a disciple.
A disciple may only have one mentor. A disciple may be a mentor for others.
Once a link is formed between a mentor and a disciple, the disciple cannot leave it (a short “grace period” is given). A mentor may kick a disciple at any time (but why would s/he? If the avatar has stopped participating is one reason).
When a disciple finishes his or her training the mentor gains skill in the new “Mentor” skill (the advancement in the Mentor-skill is somewhat different from ordinary skill advancement – you will probably raise whole ranks each time you gain XP). The Mentor skill shows how many successful disciples s/he has guided.
First person view of items and actions

You now see the items your avatar is carrying in first person view. Weapons and tools are shown, as well as mindforce powers. The “Z” key toggles between FPV w/ items – FPV w/o items – 3rd PV behind – 3rd PV free.
Visual item update

Almost all weapons in Project Entropia have received a visual overhaul, and are now displayed with a much higher detail. This is a first in a series of grand visual upgrades being done to Project Entropia over the coming months.
Monster visuals update

Almost every creature in Project Entropia has been given a visual overhaul, meaning more detailed graphics with higher clarity.
New drop functions

When dropping an item from the inventory to the ground you may now determine the placement of the item in detail. This is especially useful for indoor decorations and furniture. You may even rotate items by holding down the right mouse button and move the mouse right and left, and drop some specific items on walls or in the ceiling.
New creatures

A lot of new creatures have been spotted by explorers. Someone stated a warning about being unwary in rocky terrain…
Updated robots

Several changes has been applied to the robot population of Calypso, meaning changed behaviour, damage done, and hit points. Also, the robots seems to have found new ways to spread their terror.
Logoff delay update

An “Abort” button added to the Logoff delay interface, due to community demand.
More weapons

Over 50 new weapons added.
More armor

New armor sets added.
House decorations

Someone saw indistinguishable creatures stealing rare paintings, tables, and lamps from a cargo shuttle…
Society templates

Two new society templates added based on community input – the “Mystic” and the “Basic”.
Society ranks shown

You may now view the various ranks associated with a society template.
Society Leaderboard update

Pending societies are no longer eligible for Leaderboard positions.
Increased chance of success in crafting

The chance of success is increased on lower levels of crafting.
Octagons

Several new Octagon Boxing / Training areas added all over Eudoria.
Hadesheim Marketplace update

Added a storage terminal to the Hadesheim marketplace.
Skills renamed

The skill “Ranged Critical Hit” and “Melee Critical Hit” are renamed to the more appropriate “Inflict Ranged Damage” and “Inflict Melee Damage”, as that is what the skills actually influence. No rule mechanics have changed though – the name change is a cosmetic one to avoid confusion as the term “Critical hit” can suggest a range of effects.
Avatar animation updates

Many avatar animations have been polished, among others the infamous grip on some of the BLP rifles (no more holding the rifle in you’re stomach).
Item rebalance

The infamous Improved A-3 Justifier Mk.III is rebalanced, after community feedback. The new stats are acquired by repairing the weapon.
Server upgrades

A server crash issue has been eliminated. The entire Project Entropia universe server park is upgraded with new hardware to meet the ever-increasing number of Project Entropia participants. The new system will reduce “lag” and latency issues, as well as some disconnect issues.
Client upgrades

Several fixes have been applied to the client, to reduce the rate of disconnects and Crash-to-desktop (“CTD”) issues.
Item/houses streaming optimization

The way buildings and items are streamed to your Project Entropia client has been optimized to reduce the “lag” felt when entering/exiting buildings.
Fixed issue with floors in hangars

Fixed an issue that meant you could fall through the floors in a hangar.
Fixed issue when sitting down

Fixed an issue with sitting down and becoming difficult to hit.
Fixed issue with long range gathering of items

Fixed an issue that meant you could pick up items from far away.
Fixed issue with avatar position after server crash

Fixed an issue with the avatar position not being saved when a server crashed.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.
Currently, the virtual companies on the Exchange do not offer any shares.
You can’t repair a weapon with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.
The Team chat is not always initiated when the Team Leader invites the first member.

Project Entropia Version Update 5.7

2004-06-01

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 5.7 (“VU 5.7”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Crystal Palace Space Station available

The Crystal Palace Space Station is opened! Take the journey into space and experience a whole new area of exploration. See never-before-seen scenery and encounters and find new items not available elsewhere. Be the first one to set foot in a unique setting, untouched by human colonists.

The venture into space and the Crystal Palace Space Station is the first step of Project Entropia’s upcoming exploration of space and beyond.
Project Entropia Hardware Infrastructure upgrade

The hardware platform and infrastructure handling Project Entropia is updated to new state-of-the-art equipment, capable of handling the ever-increasing number of new Project Entropia participants. Expect better performance, increased stability, and reduced latency.
New area of crafting; Armor attachments

The Project Entropia crafters has a new area to master; the creation of armor attachments. These attachments are added to existing armor pieces by dragging and dropping them onto the armor. To remove an attachment, just double-click on the armor icon while it is in your inventory.
Massive load of new clothes

A huge pile of clothes is added to Project Entropia. All these are tailorable. Some examples are:
Headwear
Sombreros
Fedora hats
Bowler hats
Top hats
Berets
Underwear
Bustiers
Thongs
Stockings
New bra model
Footwear
Stiletto boots
Stiletto heels
Cowboy boots
Other clothes
Tuxedos
Evening dress
Tanktops
Mesh tanktops
Cut-offs
Bomber jackets
Added colors

Several new colors have been added, including black and white paint.
New weapons

A lot of completely new weapons added, including many melee weapons.
New armor sets

Armor sets added, both craftable and lootable.
New creatures

A lot of new creatures have been spotted by explorers. Someone described a horrendous sighting on the Crystal Palace station…
House decorations

An unnamed source has stated seeing new paintings on Calypso from a renowned Earth artist.
Colorable storage boxes

Storage boxes are now colorable. It makes it easier to distinguish between boxes.
Visual item update

Several items, mainly weapons, in Project Entropia have received a visual overhaul, and are now displayed with a much higher detail. This is a part of a series of grand visual upgrades being done to Project Entropia over the coming months.
New death system

When you die you will have the option to teleport to the nearest revival point. If you decline you will be a stationary ghost, unable to move. To get the option to be moved while dead, please press the ’T’ key on your keyboard. That will move your ghost to the nearest revival terminal. Note that the old way, where you moved to your last revive position no longer applies.

One could ask oneself why anyone would like to be a stationary ghost – the answer is that you can be revived on the spot, given the right equipment or Mindforce.
’T’ key change

If you press the ‘T’ key while alive, you will be asked to confirm your decision in a YES/NO dialogue box. If you select YES you will be automatically teleported after 60 seconds to the nearest revival terminal.
Mentor system tweak

The first tweak to the mentor system makes it easier to become a disciple – you now can be Newcomer as well as Inept in your skills and still be a disciple. Expect more tweaks in future VU’s.
Teaming issue fixed

An issue when disbanding a team and then having difficulties getting loot afterwards has been fixed.
Indoor movement

The indoor movement speed is increased.
Independent Guide bundled with Project Entropia

The very nice and vibrant Project Entropia society Entropia Pioneers has, together with famed Project Entropia participant NEVERDIE created a Guide to Project Entropia, an unofficial manual of sorts for Project Entropia. The guide is bundled with Project Entropia and will available from the Project Entropia web site.
Client upgrades

New fixes have been applied to the client, to reduce disconnects and Crash-to-desktop (“CTD”) issues.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.
Currently, the virtual companies on the Exchange do not offer any shares.
You can’t repair a weapon with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

Project Entropia Version Update 6.0

2004-08-10

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 6.0 (“VU 6.0”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update is located in this document.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
New Graphics Engine implemented

After almost three years the old NetImmerse graphics engine is retired and the new GameBryo engine is in place. This new graphics engine will enable us to add a lot of really cool graphic effects to Project Entropia, like weather, shadows, dynamic lighting, etc. In the course of the next few months several such graphic upgrades will come.
Client software feedback system

If the client software happens to Crash-to-desktop (“CTD”), the client now have a feedback system in place. This system asks whether the participant is willing to help MindArk by sending in his or her current PC configuration. This information will help us track down any potential driver/hardware issues causing client stability problems.
New Avatar Trading interface

A brand new avatar to avatar trading interface added. The new interface is more secure and have a lot more feedback panels. Items can no longer be removed from the offer area without clearing the entire offer. A personal chat also appears when trade is initiated. Note: You cannot trade items that have attachments added; you have to remove attachments prior to trading, to minimize confusion.
New Map interface

The addition of new locations spawned the new map interface. A map of the Eudoria continent and the Crystal Palace Space Station is supplied, as well as a sneak peak of the newly discovered continent “Amethera” (also known as “The land grab continent”). The new map interface has various filters, a quicker navigation system, and three distinct zoom levels.
New weapons

New weapons added.
New armor sets

Armor sets added.
Longus

An issue with the Longus hit probability fixed.
Robots and lying about

Robots finally realized their prey could lie down, so the aim is adjusted accordingly.
Scrollbar added to Manufacture interface

Scrollbar added to the input material list, to allow for designs with six inputs.
Container content usable in manufacturing

You may now drag input materials directly from a container to the manufacturing interface.
Scanning issues fixed

When scanning mutant, the correct skill is increased (‘Scan Mutant’, instead of ‘Scan Animal’, even if some scientists claim the old classification should stand ,-)
Scanning oneself no more

When scanning another avatar, you no longer see your attribute levels. Now you see the target levels instead, as intended.
Skill lists

Fixed an issue when a single new skill was added and that skill was the only one on a new page, it was impossible to change to the new page.
PED Card transfer interface

Corrected the interface so it doesn’t become locked when you tried to withdraw more money from your PED card than you had on it.
Avatar interaction interface update

Fixed a potential issue with the avatar interaction menu (the one you get when you right-click on an avatar) that could cause the interface to lock up and making the avatar becoming forever “busy” until logoff.
Refiner interface

An issue corrected in the refiner interface when you added multiple stacks to it and they were auto-moved back to the inventory.
Info about blueprint books in the auction

Now it doesn’t crash when you check the info of a blueprint book that is in the auction.
Long avatar names

Limited the maximum length of the full avatar names (first+nick+last name) to 40 characters. Also updated the Friends list, estate guest list, and space ship guest list.
PED Card transactions from containers

The inventory no longer locks up if you drag and drop money from a container directly onto your PED Card in the inventory.
Mourner

Mourner now is called Mourner again.
Pixie armor

The Pixie armor is now shown correctly in the auction.
Adjusted Guardian armor

Fixed non-decaying adjusted Guardian armor bug. Increased durability on the armor.
Armor attachments

Fixed an issue with armor attachments not showing in the PvP Trade.
Repair interface and mindforce implants

Fixed issue with “Repair All” and mindforce implants in the Repair interface.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.
Currently, the virtual companies on the Exchange do not offer any shares.
You can’t repair a weapon with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

Project Entropia Version Update 7.2

2005-03-22

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 7.2 (“VU 7.2”) for Project Entropia information is located in this document.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
New cities built

Two cities have been built on Amethera by the Omegaton Industries and Genesis Star Interstellar conglomerates, with the blessing of the Federal Empire. Amethera is deemed to be secure enough to grant such construction, and both the Genesis Star and Omegaton representatives are pleased with the decision. The third conglomerate, Chikara OmniWorld, is expected to start construction as well in the near future. The focus and demand from the Empire is to supply housing for the colonists in the form of reasonably priced apartments.
Apartments introduced

Thousands of apartments is introduced! We want to make a place to call home available to a much larger portion of the Calypso colonists than previously possible. The apartments will be available through the auction and have the buyout price set to 250 PED for the small apartment, 350 PED for the medium and 450 PED for the large apartment. Apartments come with a maintenance fee of 10 PED per 30 days. After this time period you need to pay the fee, else you will not be granted access to the apartment, until you do. There is no limit as to the number of apartments a single avatar may own.

The Beta apartments promised will be issued some time after the actual VU goes live. Thanks for your patience.
Trapping issues

The creatures of Calypso have evolved to notice when they are being “trapped”. This means that when a creature is unavailable to reach a target for different reasons, it will behave differently, and in some cases, will become immune to damage, until the creature believes it is no longer trapped.
Treasure Island lots

Ten new lots added to Treasure Island to the Lake View community.
Colors added

Paint cans added to allow for even more diversity when coloring items.
Added clothes

New pieces of clothing added, some of which are tailorable, including formal wear and shorts.
Added weapons

A great deal of weapons added, including clubs, maces, daggers, and shotguns. Some items are craftable. There are rumors about a unique item being spotted as well.
Housing decorations added

Dozens of items designed for making a home nice and comfortable have been added, including paintings, statues, and baskets.
General items added

A number of other items added to expand the range of items in Project Entropia.
Updated armor looks

Some armor sets have new and enhanced looks.
Visual enhancements

Several areas in Project Entropia, ranging from clothes, avatars, items and nature have been reviewed and updated from a visual standpoint, in order to remove oddities, like holes in clothes etc.
Amplifier feedback

Updated so an amplifier that is at condition 10% gives info to the owner about this.
Mentor loot

Added more items to the Mentor loot.
Auction accepts more

The auction now accepts more variety of items for sale.
Auctioneer back

After taking an unauthorized vacation, the auctioneers are back on Amethera.
Sweating

A slight adjustment upwards as to the number of sweat bottles acquired per successful sweat gathering has been made
Quickbar enhancements

Several minor additions and tweaks have been made to the Quickbar and Statusbar functions.
Client stability

Several potential crash issues are removed from the Project Entropia client software.
Sound system crash fixed

A bug in the sound system in Project Entropia that could cause a client crash has been removed. Participants who have disabled sound due to this problem should try to enable it again.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
If you sit or lie down in an apartment, you may fall through the floor into the apartment below.
Shopkeepers can become corrupted when they reach low condition. An update is on its way, tentatively scheduled for VU 7.3.
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.
You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

Project Entropia Version Update 7.3

2005-05-04

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
General Information

The Version Update 7.3 (“VU 7.3”) for Project Entropia information is located in this document.
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Land Area Management

The Land Management System allows for customized land areas and creature habitats. The land areas that have this support have a Fertilizing station present, in which the owner of the land can make his or her decisions about the future of the area.

To create a well functioning local eco system, the land needs to be rich and fertile. To achieve this, Energized Fertilizer needs to be added and distributed from the fertilizer station.

The Energized Fertilizer is a unique compound made out of animal dung and growth molecules. The creature dung may be collected from the ground, while the growth molecules is a newly discovered energy matter. Adding Energized Fertilizer will give you Improvement Points (IPs) that can be used to modify the land. All changes to the land area have a cost of IPs. Also, sustaining high level creature maturity or numbers will cost IPs over time.

In order to implant various creatures, the owner needs to gather complete samples of creature DNA. Once this is acquired and processed, the creature may be added to the lands fauna. This is done by dragging the DNA sample icon to the interface. Once added, the process begins by dispatching food chain algorithms to attract the creatures to the land, and quite soon the area’s eco-system is altered in the preferred way.
New Cities

Two new cities completed – Treasure Island City and Sakura City. They are located on Amethera; TIC on Treasure Island, and Sakura City to the south.
Auction Procurement Orders

You can now set a procurement order in the auction. An order is an outstanding order on items, meaning you can try to buy a bulk lot from several different sellers, at a set price, or a single item not currently on the market. You select the item type, choose a quantity you want, and a price. All current selling offers in the auction is compared to your order and those that match will be handled directly. Only full offers with a buyout value set is considered. The order will not split a selling offer if the offer is larger than the quantity the order has set, it will instead be ignored.

If your quantity isn’t met, the order will stay for as long as you choose, trying to match any selling offers that comes to market.

The price to add an order is 1 PED per day you wish the order to be active. This fee is paid in advance, regardless of the actual number of days the order is active. For instance, if you have paid for having an order for five days, and the entire quantity is met within three days, the cost will still be the 5 PED’s initially paid.
Creature Maturity Levels

The various creatures in Project Entropia have received an overhaul to their titles (or maturity levels), meaning that creatures that share titles now have them corresponding correctly. Previously, an “old” creature of one kind could be maturity level 6 while another “old” creature could be of maturity level 3. This will result in some changes to how the creatures’ names and location will look like after the release, as some creatures in an areas previously occupied by, for example, “adult” creatures now have “old” creatures instead.

Even though some confusion is expected, especially from the veteran participants, we are sure you will soon learn the new maturity levels, and as they are much more coherent now than before, it will be easier overall to assay creatures and their challenge rating.
Durability

All items that are worn when used have a durability rating, which shows the general level of deterioration when used. The items that have the lowest deterioration are noted as having “Exceptional” durability while the ones that are most prone to high wear and tear are noted as being “Fragile”, with a scale in between.
Treasure Island lots

Twenty new lots added to Treasure Island to the Lake View community, together with new house designs.
More Creatures Roaming the wilderness

The overall creature activity on Calypso is increased, somehow…
Music and Sounds

The Project Entropia experience is improved a great deal, with a multitude of new sound effects, ambient sounds, and music.
Jingle player

A new jingle player is added to various locations.
Updated Newcomer information

The information booths in Port Atlantis are updated with some new and more accurate information.
Focus Mindforce enhancements

The Focus Mindforce powers have been upgraded with better feedback, functionality, and security.
New Revival points

The cities on Amethera containing apartments have new Revival terminals installed.
Marketplaces in Amethera cities

The cities on Amethera have received new market places to allow for inter-participant trading.
Additions to the Toxic Zone

When an avatar kills another avatar in the Toxic Zone (“PvP3”), and the killer receives more than 50 PED in loot, a global message is shown.
Added dung

While walking around the countryside one may stumble upon animal dung, simply called Common Dung. It is claimed it can be used together with the Growth Molecules.
Added Energy matters

A new energy matter called Growth Molecules has been discovered. It can be used in conjunction with Common Dung.
Added DNA

DNA samples can be located, and can be used in the land management system.
Added Mindforce

Several high-level Mindforce powers added.
Added skills

Two new skills added; Clubs and Gauss Weaponry Technology.
Added clothes

New pieces of clothing added, some of which are tailorable, including shirts and pants. The tuxedo and dress is now tailorable.
Added weapons

A great deal of weapons added, including clubs, swords, axes, and Gauss rifles (a.k.a. “Rail Guns”). Some items are craftable. There are rumors about unique items being spotted as well.
Added armor

New armor added. There are rumors about unique items being spotted as well.
Housing decorations added

Dozens of items designed for making a home nice and comfortable have been added, including pedestals, flowers, carpets, tables and masks.
General items added

A number of other items added to expand the range of items in Project Entropia.
Visual enhancements

Several areas in Project Entropia, ranging from clothes, avatars, items and nature have been reviewed and updated from a visual standpoint, in order to remove oddities, like holes in clothes etc.
Anti-Toxic shots clarification

If you take an anti-toxic shot and you already are protected, the shot action will fail, notifying you why.
Apartment Televators

The apartment tower televators are now more predictable.
Shopkeepers

You can now remove items from a shopkeeper that is at zero condition. The visual range of the shopkeeper is greatly increased, both on radar and in main view.
Fix: Rex Top hat

Male versions may now be made.
Driver check

Project Entropia will evaluate the current graphic driver and audio codecs in use on the client computer in order to see if you have the required software installed on your computer. For more info about codecs, please see the Project Entropia Support section.
Client stability

Several potential crash issues are removed from the Project Entropia client software.

Project Entropia Version Update 7.4

2005-05-24

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
Visual update

Project Entropia has received a general facelift in many areas. Journey around Calypso and experience the wonder for yourself.
Skill experience system update

The Project Entropia skill experience system is updated. It is now adjusted to reward a participant, experience wise, that finds challenging tasks for him- or herself. Performing mundane tasks with low risk will yield less experience. When killing a creature, a skill experience bonus may be acquired. General skill experience is received at a somewhat lesser rate, but often with bigger increase when it occurs. The relative balance is not changed however.
Property access update

The estate terminal has a button for “Restricted” and “Unrestricted” access. While set to Unrestricted, the owner may freely add and remove items or furniture from the property. When set to Restricted, the owner may not add or remove items or furniture from the property.

When you examine an estate deed, you will see the current status on the property, noted as either “Unrestricted” or “Restricted” and a date, based on MA Time (accessed through the “C” key). This is the date when the restriction was applied to the estate.

This procedure allows for safe transfers of estates with items attached. If you are on the market for an estate and see an attractive piece of property, you may look it up and see if it comes with items and furniture. If so you can be sure the items are there when you decide to buy the property, as long as you verify the restriction date on the deed being set before you investigated the estate.

Note that when you as a new owner claim your estate, you also manually need to set access to unrestricted in order to begin interaction with the property.
Buffer in the Quickbar

Added a buffer in the Quickbar system, that work when you want to change the item held by your avatar after the currently held item’s reload bar is finished.
Trapped creatures die

After a time period, a trapped creature will die.
Items info available from ground items

Using the right-click menu, you can now access the Items info viewport on items on the ground – giving you the same info as when you right-click on an item in your inventory.
Skill implant more feedback

Added info in the Items info viewport on the Skill implants, to make it extra clear to see if the implant has any skill levels added to it. If so, the line “Loaded” in visible.
Amethera LA-10 Teleporter repaired

At last, the teleporter repairman found his way to the LA-10 teleporter.
Postures added

Two new postures have been added to Project Entropia.
Shed areas added

Land areas added to Amethera, which can be acquired by a single avatar. The Shed area is complete with taxation and land management system.
More Creatures Roaming the wilderness

The overall creature activity on Calypso is increased even more, by some strange notion
Radar ranges update

As more creatures roam around, the radar range of low-level creatures is decreased, meaning they will not show until you are closer to them. This will increase your client performance.
Music and Sounds

The Project Entropia experience is improved, with new sound effects, ambient sounds, and music.
Added clothes

New pieces of clothing added, which are tailorable, including uniform jackets and pants. The women have new sexy boots available.
Added weapons

New weapons added, including new next-generation plasma weapons.
Added armor

New armor added.
Housing decorations added

Dozens of items designed for making a home nice and comfortable have been added.
General items added

A number of other items added to expand the range of items in Project Entropia.
Visual enhancements

Several areas in Project Entropia, ranging from clothes, avatars, items and nature have been reviewed and updated from a visual standpoint, in order to remove oddities, like holes in clothes etc.
Client stability

Several potential crash issues are removed from the Project Entropia client software.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.
You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

Project Entropia Version Update 7.5

2005-07-01

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
New avatar creation process

A new avatar creation process is launched, allowing for a more streamlined experience. Everyone will have an opportunity to check it out, even old avatars.
Old avatars

If you already have made an avatar before the avatar creation update, you have a one-time opportunity to try out the new system. Please note that you at any time can press Reset, to change back to your original look in the currently selected category. When Reset is pressed all changes you have made in the chosen category is lost and your appearance will be the same as before. Note that you cannot change your gender. To continue onwards, press Accept.
Options

Through activating the icons at the top of the UI you can switch between different sections of your appearance. Thereafter you can either use the arrows in the manipulation area to select a new feature, or use the circular zone to decide the level of alteration. If you want to reset a change, you need to activate the corresponding category and then press the reset button. Furthermore, if you press one of the Preview icons on the lower end of the interface, you will get an idea about how your avatar will look in different outfits. Note that these outfits are previews only and will NOT be included in your equipment.
Controls
Mouse: Move the cursor around.
Mouse Wheel: Used to zoom in and out.
Mouse Wheel Pressed down: Move the camera to various angles. Keyboard Num Pad 8: Used to move camera up. Keyboard Num Pad 2: Used to move camera down.
Confirmation

When you are satisfied with your choice of appearance you need to press the Accept button. Please note that once you have accepted your looks, you cannot do any further adjustments. However, while in Project Entropia, you will have the option to interact with a person capable of changing avatar looks, namely the body sculptor, hair stylist and the face sculptor.
Name

After you have accepted your looks, you need to choose the name of your avatar. Please choose your name sensibly. The rules and restrictions regarding choice of names are clearly stated in the Conditions of Use and any violation of these rules can lead to a permanent lockdown of your account.
New introduction

A new introduction is presented when starting Project Entropia.
New professions added

Three new beauty professions added, the body sculptor, hair stylist and the face sculptor. They can alter avatar looks, based on their skills, materials and equipment.

As a beauty designer, you can adjust the settings and changes a customer has requested. The customer will be notified when you transfer control of the process and show the suggested outcome for validation.

Your success rate (“SR”) is based on your skills and the input materials chosen for the process. You can see the success rate for a 100 percent perfect outcome noted in each adjusted section. Note that more manipulation during a single procedure will lessen your overall success rate in every area.

When you are satisfied with the suggested outcome you can transfer control to the customer, by pressing Propose. The customer may accept the proposed outcome, or choose to alter the suggestion and transfer back the wishes to you for verification. You may then add new input materials to correspond with the customer’s wishes.

When the customer accepts the suggested outcome, several checks are made to see the final result. Some areas, when several changes are proposed at once, may be 100 percent successful, while other have minor or no noticeable changes applied.

The general competence level of the designer influences the various areas you can alter, meaning a higher leveled designer has more options to choose from.
Added Beauty Materials

New items used by the beauty professionals have been added, including cartilage, fat and hair spray.
Added Beauty Tools

New tools added for usage when performing beauty procedures, including the hair stylist’s chair and the body sculptor’s toolkit.
New skills added

New skills added to work together with the new beauty professions.
General items added

A number of other items added to expand the range of items in Project Entropia.
Shopkeepers and Mannequins update

The Shopkeeper and Mannequin system has been reviewed and updated.
Added Revival terminals to Amethera

Based on community feedback, several new Revival terminals have been placed at various locations on Amethera.
Skill experience increased

The skill experience rate is greatly increased, based on community feedback and detailed analysis. The increase will be especially noticeable for “mid-leveled” avatars.
Fertilizing station updated

The Fertilizing station system has been reviewed and updated.
Aggression levels

Creatures roaming the lands are now less aggressive. This is especially true for lower-maturity creatures.
Creatures AI improvement

The creatures seems to have been eating smart pills and will behave more cunningly than before.
Sweating once again considered hostile

The creatures of Calypso once again consider sweating a hostile action which may trigger attacks. However, sources claim the number of sweat bottles extracted seems to have increased as well.
Updates to Options

Several new options added, including the ability to shut off wind (and thus the moving vegetation).
Change to lighting system

The dynamic lighting system slider in the options interface is changed. Now, when you move the slider all the way to the left, you have the least amount of dynamic light applied, instead of shutting it off completely.
Change to T button

When using the T button for transportation when stuck in terrain now freezes movement, to counter foul use of its functionality.
Change to blueprint

The blueprint design recipe for the Armor Plating 1A is changed, as it contained a faulty ingredient.
Music and Sounds

The Project Entropia experience is improved, with new sound effects, ambient sounds, and music.
Client stability

Several potential crash issues are removed from the Project Entropia client software.
Internal error fixed

The source of the Internal error message fixed.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.
You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.
If an existing avatar had an item in equipped when entering the avatar creation process, the item can’t be used once on Calypso. You need to re-login in order to get it usable again.
If an existing avatar had newcomer clothes (including shoes) on, the newcomer clothes will be lost. In order to get the newcomer clothes back, you need to put all clothes in your storage facility and re-login.

Project Entropia Version Update 7.6

2005-09-22

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Mining

Mining is launched by using a Detectonator tool. When the Detectonator tool is used, a bomb is automatically placed and detonated in one smooth motion. An interface is shown to see the result of the prospecting attempt. If a resource deposit is found, move within 5 meters of the site, wait for about one second and you will claim the deposit automatically. You will receive the Resource Claim deed in a loot window.

In order to extract the resources you need the correct Excavation tool, have the deed in your inventory, and aim the tool towards the Resource Claim rod.

The Claim Deed is transferable to other avatars and the owner of the deed is the one who may extract the deposit. Claim deeds cannot be put the auction, due to the time constraints. The Claim deed always shows the current resource deposit size, to avoid confusion when trading it.

The number of available bombs or survey probes is shown in the HUD area of the screen.

Even the smallest deposit will always yield at least one unit of the resource.
Drill towers

The mining drill towers are available once again. They are automatically constructed when a resource of sufficient size has been found.
Manufacturing

Manufacturing is initiated by clicking on the corresponding manufacturing machine. Select the blueprint in the correct blueprint book by clicking on it. Add the input materials specified by the blueprint. When ready, press the Manufacture button.

On the bottom-left side is the Success rate indicator. You have the highest rate of success when the bar is full and green. When red, the success rate on the selected item is low, with a scale in between. Higher blueprint Quality Rating and avatar skills will increase the success rate. The success rate indicator replaces the old “CoS” which displayed a text word feedback.

The Condition/Quality slider specifies whether the manufacturer would like to make fewer items but with a higher initial Condition (which can be important when making “Limited” items, please see the “Items with limited uses” entry) or a larger number of items with a lower individual Condition.

If you have residue of the correct kind you may add it to the input materials section in the interface. Residue will then be used in any following successful attempt in order to boost item Condition. Failure when making an item will not waste residue. The boosted item Condition does not count towards the value when determining a Hall of Fame entry.
Refining

The refiner now accepts any number of input materials. When refining, deterioration is calculated on each output item. The deterioration levels of all refiners are lowered to reflect this and are balanced towards the previous maximum output stack size per attempt, for example 50 ingots using pre-VU 7.6 refining.
Blueprints

New blueprints have been added to Project Entropia. Some of these are “Limited”, please see the “Items with limited uses” entry.
Blueprint Books

The blueprint books can now be stored in Storage. The three equipment books are consolidated into one single equipment book for administrative purposes. The various book levels (“Apprentice”, “Beginner”, etc.) are removed; instead various “Volumes” are introduced. Blueprint books for limited blueprints are added.

Blueprint books have a searchable index page for quick access and evaluation. Book appearance will change to reflect the completeness of the book. Blueprints stored in a Blueprint book do not count towards the 200 visual items limit in the Inventory.

NOTE that any old pre-VU 7.6 Blueprint book will be automatically sold to the Trade Terminal. Your PED Card balance will be updated accordingly. This also means all your blueprints will be scattered in your inventory. If you have more than 200 blueprints and other items, you will not be able to see all of your carried items. You need to get a new blueprint book and place as many blueprints as possible therein and relog. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Navigation

Added the initial choice of choosing navigation when starting Project Entropia, between First Person and Third Person. The navigational control has been streamlined and more options have been added. You can customize your controls using the options interface, available through the “O” key.

If you had personalized your control setting prior to the VU 7.6 release you can press “Cancel” to keep these settings.

A method of movement is also suggested by pressing down both mouse buttons at once.
Tutorial system

A Tutorial system is launched in order to help newcomers find their way around in Project Entropia. The messages will explain how to navigate, how certain items work, etc, and give general pointers on what to do in Project Entropia. The tutorial messages are stored in your Tutorial messages view, available from the Action book.

The “See again” option when receiving a Tutorial message means that you will receive the same Tutorial message again in your next session in Project Entropia.
Message center

The Message center is introduced. It contains all messages you receive during your Project Entropia session. A new action for accessing the Message center is available in your Action book. Note that the messages are cleared each time you log off Project Entropia.

In later releases, the Friend messaging will be integrated into the Message center as well.
Messages notification

In the HUD, there is a new section which shows when you have a message waiting.
Items with limited uses

A number of new items are tagged with the (L) tag, which means they are “Limited”. Limited items can only be used a certain number of times, after which the item is destroyed or removed. Limited items cannot be repaired. Limited items can be found as hunting loot and can be manufactured.

A select number of blueprints have this tag as well, meaning you will have a limited number of attempts of making the output item.

Limited items usually have better stats than normal, unlimited items.
Learning bonus

All new items and all mining equipment have a learning bonus. This means that you need a certain minimum skill level in order to use the item to the full effect. When this minimum skill level is reached, you will receive an experience bonus that will be active until you are considered to master the item. After mastering the item your experience gain will return to normal.

Old items, excluding mining equipment, are not changed.
Skill influence damage

Weapons now shows the actual damage intervals the weapon has, based on avatar skills and mastery. Different weapons may show different intervals.
Unsafe zones changes

The nature of the unsafe zones has changed on Amethera as colonists tame the wilds. The cities, Treasure Island, and the area around the Revival terminals and Teleporters are now safe zones, where PvP killing is disabled.

When you are located in any unsafe zone, the small figure icon in the HUD will be glowing.
Loot windows

The loot window functionality has changed. They are now merely a “receipt” of the items found or made. The items are instead automatically placed in your inventory when found or made. Stackable items are automatically stacked. The “Take all” button is therefore rephrased to “Close”.
Statistics on items

Various items now display detailed stats when examined in the Items Info.
New advanced items in manufacturing

Three new kind of advanced item versions have been added to the manufacturing line; the adapted, the customized, and the reworked versions.
New items to manufacturing

Several new items have been added to the manufacturing system.
Display panels added

Display panels can be used to hang items, for instance your favorite weapon, on walls.
DNA added

A horde of new DNA samples has been added, and some special DNA fragments…
Wedding items

Items designed for performing wedding added.
Time left

In systems where a time limit is present, this limit is changed to show the time left until expiry. This time limit shows real time, meaning that it does not take real world incidents like Project Entropia being offline into consideration.
Condition limit change

The minimum Condition level to be able to use an item is changed from 10% to 3%, meaning an item can be used more times between repairs now than before.
Drop rule changes

Items with too low value cannot be dropped any more, in order to reduce littering.
Life state icon change

The small figure icon next to the Health bar in the HUD no longer shows whether you are alive or dead. The figure now only shows if you are in a safe or unsafe zone.
Estates to Treasure Island

Ten new estates added to Treasure Island.
Exploration

Imperial scout teams have reported that they have discovered new sites of interest. Where these sites are located is still classified awaiting further investigation.
Creature sweat levels

There are reports that the creatures of Calypso are getting sweatier…
Land Area info

When you enter or leave a land area you will receive information about this, including current tax settings.
“Empty FAPping”

The frequency of “Empty FAPping” when switching items is greatly reduced.
Fixed bugged items

Fixed a bugged melee weapon – the RepEdge Battle Axe 1×0 no longer does the strange electrical damage.

The female Supremacy armor now has the correct description (same as the male version). The old text will be saved for future use. ,-)
Bug fix to Beauty items

Bugs fixed in regards to item descriptions and to the usage of the scissors.
Updated hair looks

New and more detailed hair styles added. Also, old hair styles has been updated with more detail.
General items added

A number of other items added to expand the range of items in Project Entropia.
Updates to Options

Several new options added, including navigational shortcuts.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.
You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.
You cannot trade mining Claim deeds at the moment. This will be fixed shortly.

Project Entropia Version Update 7.7

2005-11-01

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Furniture manufacturing

A new area of manufacturing has been added – furniture making.
Storage manufacturing

Avatars can manufacture various kinds of storage boxes.
New skills added

New skills used when manufacturing boxes and furniture have been added.
Ancient items

Old “Pre-Gold” items in existence in the Project Entropia universe at the time of version update has been permanently changed into “Ancient” items, meaning they can be used and repaired and still keep their stats.
Attachments update

All old bugged “non-decaying” attachments fixed.
Trade Terminals restocked

The weapon supply in the Trade Terminal replaced with newer and better counterparts.
Critical hits

Added the chance of scoring critical hits in Project Entropia. Both avatars and creatures have the ability and it is based on skill levels. Critical hits can result in increased damage or armor penetration (the armor does not absorb any part of the damage received).
Changes to armor system

The armor durability system updated. Now, only one durability value is shown for all kinds of damage. The armors TT value does not influence its decay rate when hit. The higher the Durability stat is, the more abuse your armor can withstand. Armor condition influences the amount of protection offered.

A critical hit which penetrates your armor means your armor does not reduce the damage done in the attack at all. It will still decay though. The amount of decay is based on attack type and the amount of damage dealt. Decay only occurs when an armor can protect for the kind of damage – if a creature deals acid damage onto a armor that doesn’t protect against acid, no decay is rendered.
Future advertising system trial

You may have seen the large Hall of Fame entries recently. These have in no way changed the number or the value of lower end loots. A new system is in development, which will enable us to distribute revenues generated by ingame advertising to the colonists of Calypso. To make things interesting this revenue will generate higher level HoF-entries such as the ones seen lately.

Ingame advertising will be introduced within a few VU’s and the testing of the addon looting system is ongoing in Project Entropia and will remain in place until the advertising system is fully operational. Anyone who wish will have the opportunity to disable the advertising feature, this action will result in the colonist receives normal loot levels as before.
Updates to auction

The auction shows more information, as more columns has been added to the main view, including buyout price, differences between TT and current bid, etc. There is also more information available as tooltips if you hold the mouse cursor over a section or headline in the interface.
Added The Entropian to the auction

The official Project Entropia real life magazine is added to the Project Entropia auction, both as a single issue as well as a subscription choice.
New Water look

The visual style of the water in the seas, oceans and rivers is updated.
Furnishing hallways update

In some house types it were impossible to place furniture in the hallway, this is now rectified.
Robot space ship updates

More kinds of robot ships have been spotted.
Added feedback bars when dropping

When dropping an item more feedback is presented.
Quickbar Actions added

New Action icons added, to interact with the Message center and Tutorial messages.
Quickbar help enhanced

Added more information about how the Quickbar works, in the Help section of the Quickbar.
Port Atlantis upgraded

Port Atlantis has received an extensive face-lift.
New music

Plenty of new music added for various areas and situations.
Added feedback in Map interface

Added more feedback in the map section, with more detailed text and pictures.
Added more stats to items

Some items have more stats presented when looking at them in Items Info, most noticeable is the Attacks per minute stat on weapons.
Creatures has been to boot camp

The Calypso creatures have been to boot camp, meaning they now show more variance to hit probability and the amount of damage they inflict.
New client options

New Client Loader options added to the client to allow for a wider range of PC configurations.
New creatures

Scientists say new life forms have been detected on Calypso.
Focus charges protects while sweating

A Mindforce Focus now protects while sweating.
Anti-Toxic shot

An applied Anti-Toxic shot is only removed if another avatar in a contaminated area kills you.
Learning bonus

Made the feedback in the items info more detailed in regards to the Learning bonus system.
Tutorial system upgrades

More areas added to the tutorial system.
Friends list

The maximum number of Friends on the Friends list is increased, from 40 to 80.
Land Area info

A land owner may set a custom welcome message to a land area, which is shown to everyone who enters it.
Fixed bugged items

Fixed a bugged melee weapon – the whips minimum damage is adjusted to the correct level.
General items added

A number of other items added to expand the range of items in Project Entropia.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.
VU 7.7.1

Date n/a
Adjusted the deterioration levels on armor when hit
Friends list stability update when more than 40 entries
Mining info texts presented in the chat section once again
Shopkeepers update
Added info on weapons when an amplifier is attached
The female Umbranoids have located their clothes again
Some info:

Some of the stats shown when looking on items are dynamic, meaning they reflect your avatar’s skill levels. Therefore the same item may show different stats when examined by two different avatars.

The ability to place mining bombs underwater is removed as the number of deposits underwater is very scarce after the release. So this is a precaution to avoid excessive bombing in a low-yield area. A section about new mining tools was missing in the content list – several new mining tools have been added to PE.
VU 7.7.2

Date n/a
The Entropian official PE Magazine item added to PE Auction.
Updated the coloring system to allow for visualization of more kind of items.
Mindforce Heal chips corrected to use the right skill set (“Biotropy” instead of “First aid”).
Mindforce Firestorm chips corrected to use the right skill set (“Pyrotropy” instead of “Psychotropy”).
Mindforce Teleportation chips has received better precision in regards to were you will end up after teleporting.
You may furnish your home with gnomes.

Project Entropia Version Update 7.8

2005-11-23

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Taming

The first stage of the Taming system is introduced. It is now possible to tame certain species of the Calypso wildlife. In order to tame an animal you need to break its free spirit and subject them to your authority and leadership. This is done by using a whip. All tamable animals have three bars showing when they are targeted. These bars show the animal’s level of Respect, Spirit and Health.

When health and spirit are low and respect is high enough, you may attempt to tame the animal by activating the “Tame Animal” action in the Action book.

If an animal gets hit by another weapon than a whip before the animal has been successfully tamed, it needs to regenerate to full health until you can initiate a new taming session.
Pet Feeding and Trust

When you have succeeded in taming an animal, it will be hungry and needs to be fed with Nutrio bars. You feed the pet by dragging the Nutrio bar on to the animal and dropping it. The next step is to make your pet trust you. The trust will increase when you brush it with the appropriate tool.
Pet Experience and Performance

When the pet is no longer hungry and its trust is high enough, you can try to get it to perform actions (e.g. Greet or Impress). These actions are shown in the Action book under the “Pet” tab. By performing actions, the pet will gain experience. For each level of experience the pet gains, more and more actions will become available.

Please be aware that you will need to take care of your pet and feed it on a regular basis. If you fail to keep it in the appropriate way, it will lose trust, energy and experience.

Note: In this first stage, the pet level is capped to level three. Higher levels will be added in future VU:s.
Stables

If you don’t want your pet to tag along or you want to logout for a longer period, you need to leave the animal in a stable. To do this you need to find a stable keeper outside one of the cities or towns. You have to stand close to the stable keeper and then you use the stable action from the action book. When a pet is stabled you will receive a pet deed in your inventory. To collect your pet again, you need to approach any stable keeper and activate the pet deed in your Inventory.

If you fail to stable your pet in time, if no one looks after the pet (you leave it or if you are offline) for longer than 10 minutes, your pet will get automatically stabled. If this happens, your pet will lose trust, experience and energy. Please note that if the energy level and experience of your pet is 0 when you desert it, it will die!

If the pet starves while in stable it will lose trust, experience and energy.

The pet deed can be dropped on the ground or sold in private trade to other participants. It cannot be sold in auction.
Pet Death

A tamed pet is currently not killable. This will change in upcoming VU:s.
New Skills introduced

The skill Animal lore has been added to the skill section.
New actions added to the Action Book

New actions added regarding pets and taming.
Tooltips added

The various stats when examining an item in Items Info view now have tooltips that describes the statistic to greater detail.
Auction updates

Several categories in the auction have been split into more detailed counterparts, including the energy matter elements and the skill implant sections, to allow for clearer browsing.
Limited armor updates

Limited armor and armor attachments have full protection levels until they are unusable.
Elevator repaired

The elevator in Omegaton Beta complex has been repaired. Floor nine is once again available.
More scenery

More visual objects and scenery have been added to Project Entropia.
Item count in estates

The item count is now updated correctly.
Estates to Treasure Island

New hangars added to Treasure Island.
New blueprints for tools and weapons added

Taming tools and craftable whips has been added to Project Entropia.
Fixed an issue with armor attachments

It is no longer possible to drag armor platings to the avatar in the Inventory. The platings need to be attached to the armor, before the armor is equipped to the avatar.
KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES
You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.0

2005-12-19

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Asteroid Space Resort

The first phase of the Asteroid Space Resort, called “Club NEVERDIE” is up. The features active in this phase are the Biodomes, Apartments, public facilities, and the main complex. Next phase will see the Nightclub, advertising system, and other areas.
New music added

A massive load of new music added to Project Entropia, including the Club NEVERDIE theme song!
Christmas is all around

The Project Entropia participants receive gifts, based on their level of commitment to the Project Entropia development.
Storage boxes

Several types of storage boxes have been added to Project Entropia, both as loot and as manufactured items.
More data in Items Info

More info shown, for instance the weapons now present their respective category.
Auction updates

Several categories in the auction have been split into more detailed counterparts, for instance gender based for armor and more sections for mining tools, to allow for clearer browsing.

Also, a transport cost is added for long range auction transfers of items. Sometimes it may be cheaper to physically go to the zone the inital auction was started in.
New minerals and enmatters

Geologists have found several new kinds of minerals and enmatters on the Asteroid.
More info and feedback

Various help sections has been enhanced and more feedback is given, for instance when a disciple kicks a mentor.
New creatures

Imperial survey teams have reported on new creature sightings.
Stabling updates

Several updates done to enhance the pet stabling process.
More scenery

More visual objects and scenery have been added to Project Entropia.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.1

2006-02-01

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Shops

Shop estates are now available. The Amethera cities and Club Neverdie now have dedicated shopping areas. The owner of a shop can sell items by setting a price for an item and then placing it on the wall, floor, in the display window, etc. Anyone wishing to buy an item need just click on the item and proceed through the buying process. The shops come with a display window which can be dressed as desired.

When an item is sold, a fee is also paid to the landowner (not to be confused with the shop owner) upon whose land the shop is located. The current fee is 3% on Club Neverdie and 2% on Amethera. In later VUs the fee will be dynamically set by the landowner.

A shop owner may set ’public’ or ’private’ access for the shop. If a shop owner elects to have his/her shop ’private’, only people on the shop owner’s guest list may purchase items from the shop.

All shops have monthly fees maintenance per month, based upon their size and location.
Item points

Estates now use an ’Item Points’ system instead of the ’Number of items’ which was previously displayed. This relates to the number of items you are allowed to place at a particular location in your estate.

At the moment, all items use 1 Item point each, with the exception of mannequins and shopkeepers, which use 6 points each. This may result in a situation where you have already used up the maximum item points allowed for a particular location. In such case you will need to reduce the amount of items (thereby reducing the item points) in order to again be within the maximum item point limit for that location.
Market places

All market places (like those in Hadesheim) have been upgraded to “shop” status. This means you can now display items in the area. However, as before, market places do not have any maintenance fees associated with them.
Tool amplifiers

The manufacturing process has been enhanced, with the introduction of Detectonator Amplifiers. These amplifiers may be attached to the Ore or Energy Matter Detectonators, allowing for advanced prospecting. When they become available in the auction, they will be found under Tools -> Mining category.
PvP combat update

The hit probabilities for PvP combat have been updated, allowing for more accuracy and acceptance of Internet latency. This generally results in more hits in comparison to before the update. This will not affect the basic hit system involving attacker and defender skill levels.
Exit now!

When logging out of Project Entropia you may now exit immediately instead of waiting the 20 seconds stipulated by the timer. However, your Avatar will REMAIN online and can be harmed or interacted with for the full duration of the 20 seconds.
Skill progress on Blueprints

Some new blueprints now show skill progression.
New actions in the Action Book

Several new actions have been added to the Action book for quick and easy usage, including new shop activity actions.
Location face-lifts

Several locations have received visual make-overs in compliance with Imperial regulations. Fort Ithaca, for example, has been upgraded to ’town’ and Fort Argus shas been expanded. Other locations have been polished up as well.
New items

Dozens of new items have been added to Project Entropia in a number of various categories.
Lost CND Creatures home again

The empty dome at Club Neverdie finally have its residents.
New blueprints

Some 50 new blueprints have been added.
Avatar name

The system now remembers the chosen avatar name to display after log-off

Project Entropia Version Update 8.2

2006-03-22

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Events

The first phase of the Event System has been introduced. Participants can now create, sell tickets for, and administer exclusive events in the Virtual Universe. PvP, hunting and vote based events may now be created for up to 100 participants.

Land Areas now also function as Event Areas when land owners activate the Public Event Area option. Event details can be accessed from the Land Claim UI. In order to register for an event on the Asteroid you must first access the correct Land Area Controller for the dome where the event will take place.

Furthermore, Event Organizer NPCs are located in special Event Areas around Calypso, such as the Fort Ithaca bar or the catwalk north of Nymphtown, allowing participants to schedule, customize and register for events in that area. Rules, Prize Items and PvP options can be customized for each event.

Reputation and Event Promoter skills have been introduced and can be influenced by all participants in an event.

Events may be thirty minutes to four hours in length with full scheduling options available through the Event Calendar.

The event chat channel has been initiated allowing Event Participants to communicate directly during an event.
Advertising

The first phase of the Ad System has also now been introduced. Participants can now create and display their own Ads in the Virtual Universe. Ad Terminals are located in all important cities and outposts on Calypso.

An Ad always has, and is restricted to, a total length of 30 seconds. Ads may consist of up to 5 Sequences. Each Sequence can have its own image and text. Full formatting options are available and every Ad can be previewed on the Preview Screen included above every Ad Terminal.

Ads are displayed throughout the Virtual Universe on the main Ad Display Boards. Ads are displayed based upon a Dynamic Display Probability. The more you invest in your Ad, the greater the probability that your Ad will be displayed. The probability will increase or decrease depending on the number and Investment value of other participant Ads. Once you’ve created an Ad you can later modify it and increase your investment if you wish to increase the Dynamic Display Probability.
Shops Update

A necessary change has been made to the participant shops system on the Asteroid. Participants with items displayed in the entrance corridors as well as in the display windows may now discover that they have exceeded their maximum item points allowed for display indoors. The entrance corridors and the display windows are now together counted as indoor displays. This update should greatly increase the system performance while visiting these shopping areas.
Friends

The Friends chat has been updated and now works exactly like the Private chat. This includes a logging function which can be enabled or disabled through the main options panel. The log is saved in your Project Entropia folder. A new Friends category has been added to the Action Book and includes all the usual Friend features. These features can be accessed from the Friends List, the status bar and through interaction with other avatars. This new Friends/Private chat window has also received a make over and now allows you to ignore chat from another participant during a chat session. The Friends List also allows you to drag out an avatars status bar for easier interaction.
PvP Update

When teleporting from a PvP to non-PvP zone such as a revival terminal, the 30 second rule no longer applies. It is no longer possible to kill an avatar that has just been revived.
Port Atlantis Makeover

Port Atlantis has received a make over in order to increase system performance while visiting one of Calypso’s major population centers.
Land Area Update

Land Area Owners now have the option of enabling or disabling PvP for their Land Area.
Construction Update

All the manufacturing UIs have been updated with a more sensitive ’quality vs. condition’ slider allowing a greater range of setting possibilities. The success rate bar has also been updated to continually reflect your changing success status. The overall output rate however, is not affected. You will also receive a warning in the chat window if your success status is very low.
Actions Update

The Actions interface has been updated with several new icons including a participant info icon which is used in conjunction with the new Event system.
More Weapons

An assortment of new weapons has been added.
Map Update

The second Corinth Beach map location has been renamed to Treasure Island NE and relocated to its correct position.
Naked Shock

The mutants on Calypso seem to be embracing their own interpretation of flower power and are now refusing to wear clothes. As if they weren’t ugly enough.
More Items

A variety of new and interesting items have been added throughout the Virtual Universe.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.3

2006-04-24

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
New Oxford City of Culture

The Entropia Universe has now been updated with a unique city dedicated to culture and the arts. Located on the Amethera continent, New Oxford (coord. -17164, -13458) has been designed in conjunction with renowned Swedish artist Ernst Billgren.

The distinctive appearance of New Oxford is further complemented by exciting partnerships with Real World artists and clothes manufacturers. The Vexed Generation clothing brand from London have opened a store on the bottom floor of the new ’Hjorten’ building where you can buy real and virtual contemporary urban clothing. Over 20 new garments are now available to participants both inside and outside the Entropia Universe.

21st Century Fine Art from New York are exhibiting over 80 works from artists such as Mark Kostabi, Marc De Muro and Kika Karadi in the fantastic new art galleries of New Oxford. Again, all pieces of art can be bought virtually for your apartment on Calypso, and some may be ordered and delivered for your home in the Real World.

As a center for the arts, New Oxford also allows participants to attend lectures from the above mentioned artists, where they reveal some of the secrets behind their success in the art world. New apartment complexes have also been included in New Oxford with many new and interesting design details incorporated. A brand new Trade Center is also included in New Oxford.

MindArk are proud to be the vanguard of interaction between the real and virtual worlds through the first virtual universe – the Entropia Universe.
UI Makeover

With the introduction of Real World item purchasing, the Item Info UI has received a makeover and now offers more options and control over the item you are viewing.
Busy Servers

As the number of Entropia Universe participants is increasing daily, participants now have the option of logging into a different server if the one they wish to log into has reached its population limit.
New Music

A range of new ambient music has been composed and implemented into the Entropia Universe.
Chat

Chat session UIs have been updated with a ’snap’ feature allowing for easier organization of open interfaces.
Starting in the Entropia Universe

New avatars entering the Entropia Universe now have the option of choosing where they would like to begin: Port Atlantis or New Oxford.
Teleporter

A new teleporter has been added to Camp Caravan, east of Fort Zeus.
Furniture

A brand new range of exclusive and limited edition furniture has been added to the Entropia Universe.
Implants

The Generic Skill Implant has changed name to the Empty Skill Implant.
Limited Items

Limited Items cannot be repaired.
New Colors

The number of colors available in the Entropia Universe has been doubled.
Fixes

Several bugs have been squashed with this release including:
The running bug that affected avatars involved in Private chat.
A difference in action performance between the Action Book and the Quick Bar has also been repaired.
A bug affecting updates to the beauty specialist has also been corrected.
More Items

As well as all the new clothing items that have been added by Vexed Generation, a number of other clothes, such as the tank top, have been added to the Entropia Universe by MindArk. Other items have also been added in the areas of weapons and blueprints.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.4

2006-05-29

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Music Streaming

Audio streaming is now provided by the owner of the Asteroid, allowing the latest sounds to be brought direct from Earth to Club Neverdie and its surrounds. The audio streaming may be enabled or disabled from the Client Loader Options and is provided at the sole discretion of the Asteroid owner.
Ad Options

An Ad option is now included in the Client Loader Options allowing participants to choose whether or not they wish to enable Entropia Universe advertisements. By enabling the ad system, participants will be granted access to larger loots.
Gold & ATM Cards

The Entropia Universe Gold Card and Entropia Universe ATM Withdrawal Card are now available and may be ordered from your local Trade Terminal. For more information, please see the news section of the Entropia Universe website.
Adjusted increase of ’Attacks per minute’ for new weapons, mindforce and mining tools.

Once the minimum skill requirement for the above mentioned equipment has been met, the ’Attacks per minute’ value will increase until the maximum ’Attacks per minute’ value is reached. The rate of increase is related to the user’s skill in operating the equipment. Furthermore, the start value for ’Hit ability’ has been raised from 0.0 to 3.0, for users that have reached the minimum skill level requirement. The subsequent increase curve has been adjusted to accommodate this change. You can also now see your ’Damage’ and ’Aim’ skill progress status for a weapon in the Item Info interface.
Events

A new “Highest Single Loot” rule has been added to the event system. The event participant that scores the Highest Single Loot during an event will be the winner.
Private Chat

The contrast between the text and background colors of the Private Chat interface has been increased to enable easier reading.
Cannon Towers

Cannon towers have been placed close to all land area revival terminals to allow colonists a chance to recover in safety. The teleporter in Treasure Island North has also received cannon tower defense.
The Auction

Residue can now be bought and sold in the Auction from the Materials category.
More Items, Sound and Vision

Several new items have been added to the Entropia Universe, which may turn out to be quite valuable in Calypso’s future.

New music and film composed here at MindArk have also been included.
Enhancements
Teleporting is now a more streamlined experience again.
All blueprints are now included within the blueprint category in the Auction.
Tamed animals no longer go wild in the presence of decoys.
The event system has been enhanced to more closely adhere to the set rules.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.5

2006-07-04

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Desktop Icons & Keyboard Mapping

The User Interface has been remodeled. The Quick Bar is now replaced with a new system allowing the creation of Desktop Icons for your favorite tools, weapons, actions and system functions. Extensive Keyboard Mapping is also available and easily organized into nine Action Sets; you can now have every situation from hunting to dancing right at your fingertips. Remember: Desktop Icons and Keyboard Maps are separate functions and must be created/mapped separately.

A Global Action Set is also available for functions you always need close at hand. Please view the updated ’Movement & Interaction’ section of the Participants Guide on this website as well as the help texts included In-World by clicking the ’?’ symbols on the new interfaces.

Massive Advertising The Advertising System is now functional with initial advertisements from Massive now being shown. More will appear over the coming days. Enabling the Ad System in the Client Loader allows participants access to higher loots.
New Land Areas, Creatures & Resources

New land areas have been discovered on the Amethera continent, including new arctic, jungle and swamp climates, new outposts, purchasable land areas and an array of interesting items and artifacts to discover. The land areas also include several new creatures specific to the arctic and swamp climates. A number of new minerals and energy matters have also been discovered in these new areas.
Graphics & Animation

Adjustments have been made so that clothes and armor fit better on avatars. Several new hair styles have also been added. An improvement has been made to the light settings in the Entropia Universe that makes the lighting more natural.
AI

The AI of mobs has been improved in order to avoid abuse.
Action Library

Several new actions have been added to the Action Library, including the camera mode which allows height positioning of the view camera.
Construction & Blueprints

Several new components have been added for furniture construction. New furniture and weapons blueprints are also available. The success rate is displayed in the blueprint item info.
Shops

The participant shops beneath the ’Hjorten’ building in New Oxford are now available for business.
Auction

The Sollomate Crusho has been moved under the Crush Weapons category miscellaneous animal parts and natural materials have now been grouped under the materials category.
Storage Terminal in Port Atlantis

The Storage Terminal in Port Atlantis has been moved to facilitate easier access.
Terminology

A generic ’uses per minute’ for all tools that employ a delay is now displayed in the Item Info.
Entropia Universe Cash Card

The Item Info text for the Entropia Universe Cash Card has been updated.
Inventory

The Inventory can now be moved around the screen.
Sweat Limit

There is no longer a skill cap for sweating.
Enhancements
The rank order in the Active Event window now works correctly throughout an Event.
An issue where avatars became locked when lying down with an active teleporter chip has been resolved.
It’s no longer possible to get onto the roof of the Treasure Island Bronze and Platinum buildings.
Pets are no longer afraid to go into the stable by Fort Argus.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.6

2006-09-18

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
New Physics Engine

As part of the ongoing enhancement of the Entropia Universe, MindArk are proud to announce the implementation of the ’PhysX’ physics engine by AGEIA. The AGEIA PhysX engine delivers the computing horsepower necessary to enable true, advanced physics in the Entropia Universe.

This first implementation stage will allow MindArk to greatly enhance the Entropia Universe with exciting new features during the coming seasons.

Please note that the implementation of the PhysX engine does not require that particpants purchase the AGEIA PhysX Card. This update does however lay the foundation for extra physics features in the future which will benefit from the PhysX Card.
New Oxford

Excavations have continued under the Hjorten building in New Oxford. Archeologists and mining teams have found ancient artifacts that may suggest prehistoric inhabitants in this area. A range of new shops and boutiques have been installed in what is now known as Thorkell’s Tomb. Excavations in these underground regions will continue and are sure to involve more surprises.
Creature AI

Creature AI has been boosted to now include animal herding behaviors and enhanced interactions between creatures and their surroundings.
Graphics

Avatars clothing and armor have been adjusted to reduce small glitches and missing textures.
Plastic Surgery

A number of new face types have been added to the plastic surgeon profession.
Mining

The ingredients needed for the mining amp blueprints OA-101 and MA-101, bought from the technician, have been adjusted to make the recipe slightly easier and the resulting items of a better condition.
Advertising

A range of new background images have been added for participant created advertisements.
New Items

Many new items have been added to the Entropia Universe.
New Actions

Two new actions: Rotate Left and Rotate Right, have been added to the Action Library.
Trade Terminal

Items bought from the Trade Terminals are no longer automatically stacked.
Shops

Bags and Shopkeepers can now be repaired without having to empty their contents.
Team

The Team Interface can now be moved.
Teleporters

The teleporter list no longer opens automatically when you walk onto the teleporter. Simply click the operate action when on the teleporter to activate the list now.
Hangars

The door between the control room and the space ship hangar now opens automatically.
Old HUD Icons

Old HUD Icons have been removed from the Cybernetics and Small Items categories of the Inventory.
Stables

Stables that were to close to Fort Argus and Fort Zeus have been moved to reduce animals fear at being stabled.
Other Enhancements
The PvP zone has been removed from around New Oxford.
Distracting messages, received by pressing movement keys while using certain terminals or viewing items info, have been corrected.
The difficult stairs up to NeverDies VIP bar on the asteroid have been fixed.
The Options Icon has been changed.
An auctioneer has been placed in the Shinook Jungle outpost.
The cannon towers have been upgraded with a new design.
The jukebox in Fort Fury is working properly again.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.7

2006-11-01

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Auction

The public auction has been improved. Enhancements include:
The number of items that can be placed on the auction has been increased to 30.
The auction fee has been modified to a base fee of 0.5 PED plus a regressive markup commission beginning at 5%. Please view the updated Auction section of the Participants Guide for more detailed information.
For limited and stackable items, the Buyout column now displays the Buyout price as a percentage of the TT value, with the actual PED amount transferred to the tool tip. For unlimited items the Buyout column will display the markup value in PED, with the total Buyout price in the tooltip.
Auction categories have been updated. MindForce and Residues now contain sub-categories. Weapons have been divided into BLP/Plasma/Laser/Gauss and even a Cannon category. Weapon Amplifiers have been divided into BLP and energy categories. Mining Amplifiers have also been divided up. New categories have been included for new items
Participant Owned Shops

The tax paid to landowners has been reduced from 5% to 2.5% of the item markup value to coincide with the auction adjustments.
New HUD Design

The main HUD (Heads-Up Display) has been redesigned. Increased transparency and more chat filters have been included. The upper row of color coded buttons control which channels you wish to read. The lower row of buttons control which channel you wish to write to. Don’t forget, if you want to write to a channel, you should also enable reading of the channel.

The tool section of the HUD now automatically disappears when no tool is equipped. Teleporters are now displayed on the radar as light blue. Auctioneers, event organizers and other friendly trader NPC’s have changed color in the radar from light blue to orange.
Options Interface

A new option has been included in the Options Interface called ’Align radar with camera’. When enabled, this option allows the radar to follow the camera’s orientation. Otherwise the radar follows your avatars orientation.

Tooltips have been included for the first and third person options in the Options Interface.
Weapon Amplifiers

A range of new limited crafted and ready-made amplifiers have been introduced. New resources and items necessary for their construction are also in place. With this new range arriving on Calypso, compatibility requirements now require that the correct weapon is matched with the correct amplifier in order to the achieve the maximum 50% power boost available from an amplifier.

Regardless of compatibility, amplifiers can still be attached to weapons and will continue to deteriorate and consume ammunition. For more information about this change, read the Preview VU 8.7.
New Mining Amplifiers

New ’Light’ versions of low level mining amplifiers have been introduced in response to participant feedback regarding high manufacture costs. The ’Light’ version amplifiers have a lower TT value and are cheaper to manufacture.

The OreAmp OA-101 and EnMatAmp MA-101 blueprints sold by the technician have been replaced with the OreAmp OA-101 Light and the EnMatAmp MA-101 Light. The manufacture cost of the OreAmp OA-101 blueprint, previously sold by the technician, has also been slightly reduced.
Skill Implants

Skill Implants have been revised. In order to facilitate the transfer of considerably larger amounts of skills, new Empty Skill Implants can now be found with TT values up to 1,250 PED, the TT value being a measure of how much skill the implant can contain.

Should you only partially fill an Empty Skill Implant, you will receive the remainder in a new Empty Skill Implant with the remaining value. If the remainder has a value below 10 PED you will receive PED directly. In accordance with these changes, existing Empty Skill Implants now have a TT value of 12.5 PED and the TT value of existing

Filled Skill Implants has been multiplied by 10. Empty skill specific implants are no longer available and existing implants have been replaced with Empty Skill Implants which can be used for any skill.
Graphics

The light setting adjustments begun in VU 8.5 have continued with new shading for avatars and creatures. Fog and sunlight settings have also been adjusted to add more variation to the landscapes on Calypso. Improved water and sky textures have also been added.

New options have been included in the Options panel of the Login Window to customize settings. Further details can be read in the updated Start, Login & Connection section of the Participants Guide.
Other graphical improvements include:
New target box graphics.
The size of icons in the Inventory has been reduced.
The Interaction Menu and Action Library categories have been color coded.
Several Action Icons have been redesigned to better reflect their category.
The first person death effect has been improved.
New effect animations have been implemented to more clearly display dung and fruits.
Improvements to the contrast and color settings of the Amethera map.
Updated System Requirements

In order to provide a better service to participants, the system requirements for the Entropia Universe have been revised and divided into three categories: minimum, recommended and optimal. Please read the updated categories in the Start, Login & Connection FAQ for further details.
Terminals

Terminals like the trade and construction terminals found on estates can now be used by all visitors.
New Items

Version Update 8.7 includes the largest introduction of exciting new items for quite some time. Enjoy.
New Music

New global music has been included for your adventures on Calypso. Expanding on the current theme of acoustic elements like piano, guitar, and ethnic percussion, the new symphonic instrumentations are typically Entropian with plenty of exciting new loops and samples from near and far. Turn it up!
Treasure Island

New houses have been built on Treasure Island. In Treasure Island City, the Trade Center has been moved closer to the teleporter and extra cannon towers have been constructed.
Beauty

Over 10 new hairstyles have been added to the Hair Stylist profession.
Other Enhancements
Numerous minor bug fixes have been applied.
Small erroneous PvP pockets that existed in and around New Oxford have been cleared up.
NPC’s in the Ithaca Bar, Nate Valley and Twin Peaks are completely above ground again.
Several BLP weapons that spent laser cell ammunition have been corrected.
When you have been outbidden for an item on the auction, your bid amount is transferred back to your account immediately.
The sunken bridge north west of Atlas Haven has been repaired.
Version Update 8.7.1

2006-11-02
The missing ’No Loot’ message has been restored.
The incorrect values displayed in the Item Info for weapons and armor attachment combinations have been fixed.
Version Update 8.7.2

2006-11-08
The Entropia Universe can now run in windowed mode. Check the updated Options panel in the Login Window for additional settings.
Several teleporters which had sunk underground have been restored. The immediate area around teleporters have been fixed to look more natural again.
A graphics bug when using telescopic sights has been fixed.
Shop keepers are again displayed on the radar.
New Items have been added to the Entropia Universe.
Version Update 8.7.3

2006-11-15
Several small issues with Windowed Mode have been cleared up.
The chat filters that reacted rather slowly have been revised to perform the filtering action quicker.
Ammunition has been added to creature loot.
Version Update 8.7.4

2006-11-16
An issue regarding the auto-stacking of looted ammo has been resolved.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.8

2006-12-18

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Holiday Gifts

To celebrate the holiday season, a number of different gifts have been included for participants in the Entropia Universe. Some public areas on Calypso have also received festive decorations and MindArk would like to wish everybody a safe and happy holiday and a great New Year.
Shopping Malls

Three new shopping malls have been built on Calypso: at Port Atlantis, Twin Peaks and at a new location on Amethera called Emerald Lakes. Now available for purchase through the public auction on Calypso, each mall includes deeds to all 36 shops, a private penthouse apartment and lots, lots more.

For full details, please read the Shopping Malls Sale Specification.
Private Signs & Screens

New crafted Signs and Screens have been introduced. Signs will be able to show preloaded images and static text. Screens will be able to show preloaded images with dynamic text.

Both Signs and Screens are available in a range of different shapes and sizes, including flat mounted and side mounted models. An operating panel similar to that of the current Ad Screens will allow administration of the Signs and Screens.

All content for these Private Signs and Screens is created from the preloaded images and participant created text. Advertising from Massive Inc. and other global participant created advertising will not be displayed on these Signs and Screens.
Skills & Professions

The Professional Standings section has been removed from the Avatar Information Panel. Profession Ranks and Levels are now presented in a lot more detail by pressing the new Professions Icon in the Action Library.

Profession Levels are based on Skill Points (previously known as Level) and determine your ability to perform tasks and use items.

A full list of all your achieved professions can now be reviewed by using category buttons included in the new Professional Standings Panel. You may also choose which professional title you wish to display for other colonists. A further option of whether or not to display all your professional achievements for other colonists is also included.

The Item Info panel now also presents professional names and the required level for the item that is being viewed.
Some small, but essential, rebalancing of the skill system has been implemented:

All avatar attributes will now start at 1 point (instead of 20). The initial attribute gain will offer a balanced and fast progression curve to allow a good and rewarding start phase in Entropia. Please note that existing participants will not be affected or lose any attribute points.

The skill gain rate at higher levels, as well as the impact of high level skills on Profession Levels, has been slightly adjusted. This change is a necessary step for the future, as it provides greater flexibility in designing new high end items while keeping the delicate balance between old and new items. So get ready for some new high end weapons! Will you have the skills to use them efficiently?
Team Settings

The old Damage Determines rule has been renamed as ’Damage: Item Share’. A new Team Setting has been included allowing Stackable Items to be split between team members based on the damage inflicted by each member. The new rule is called ’Damage: Stack Share’.
Mining

Adjustments have been made to the mining process. When a resource is found during the initial prospecting stage, the resource is automatically claimed, meaning the claim panel with the ownership deed, and the Claim Marker, are displayed instantly.

The instrument display still indicates the location of the resource, but finding the resource has been made even easier by the visual reference now made by the Claim Marker.
Inventory

As it could sometimes take a while for the Inventory to open, a progress bar has now been included for the loading of items in the different Inventory categories.
Graphics

Continuing to utilize the new PhysX engine, the death animation has been improved to reflect a more life-like tumble and fall.
Items

Some exciting new Limited and Unlimited Items have been introduced.
Beacon Mission

It is now only necessary to kill 75% of the robots in a ship chamber in order for the teleporter to be activated.
MindForce Teleporting

It’s now possible to teleport using MindForce from indoors on Calypso.
Manufacturing

You can now refill materials in initiated manufacturing jobs without having to close the Manufacturing Panel and begin the entire process again.
Private Chat

It is now possible to continue a Private Chat after an avatar has been killed.
Sound

Weapon sounds have been updated to add a little more variation. More ambient sounds have been included like wave sounds when avatars are near water. It is now possible for the owner to stream music to the main complex and control room on CND.
Official MindArk Avatars

All official MindArk avatars now have a star clearly displayed above their avatar. Chat text from Official Avatars is also colored orange.
Other Enhancements
A message now informs participants when animals are in states where sweat cannot be gathered from them.
A problem with found deposits not being shown when mining has been fixed.
A refining problem that gave the message ’cannot execute’ and forced the participant to ’Clear’ and repeat the entire loading of materials process again has been fixed.
When changing continents using the Map panel, the name of the continent is now updated correctly.
A problem where attachments like amps bought at auction could not be used before relogging into the Entropia Universe has been corrected.
Melee animations that were sometimes interrupted when an avatar began to walk or run have been fixed.
Weapon shot animations are more responsive and the animation when shooting from ’Relaxed’ position has been corrected.
A CTD which occurred when a long society name was entered into the Society Terminal has been fixed.
The so called shake bug that affected avatars after space flight has been resolved.
A problem with teleporting on the Asteroid that resulted in the avatar ending up underground has been fixed.
For inactive avatars that had not logged in since before VU7.5 there was a problem with their avatar name disappearing. This problem has been fixed.
Problems with updating avatar’s PED card balance have been fixed.
A Revival Terminal that was floating in mid-air in Chugs Hideout has been fixed.
A new skill-gain effect has been included.
New Icons for In-World messages.
Numerous graphics fixes.
Version Update 8.8.1:

2006-12-20

Some problems we were able to address quickly due to well documented feedback from the community.
A bug in the auction system causing the ’My Bids’ section to display double entries has been fixed.
Avatars that began sliding while writing to chat during auto run have been fixed.
Turned off lamps that lit up rooms upon loading are repaired.

We are also aware that certain participants are experiencing ’rubberbanding’. We are continuing to work on this.
Version Update 8.8.2:

2006-01-17
Delayed sound effects with certain weapons have been fixed.
Bird sounds when logging in indoors have been corrected.
Skill level gains have a new sound effect.
Estate terminals that could display incorrect estate information have been fixed.
Creature AI has been optimized.
Continued optimization of the physics system.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.9

2007-02-06

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Participant Content (PC)

Images and video can now be uploaded and displayed on Signs, Screens and Displays with (PC) after their name e.g. Xlite-S Sign (PC).

This first stage of Participant Content will add a new dimension to communication, advertising and social entertainment in the Entropia Universe. Invite your friends from around the world into the comfort of your apartment or house in the Entropia Universe to view your own videos and pictures. Why not produce artwork that can be sold in shops or at the auction? The possibilities are limitless.

A new PARTICIPANT CONTENT Icon has been added to the ACTION LIBRARY. For further information about fees, accepted formats and more, see the updated Advertising Guide.
Banking Licenses

Five exclusive banking licenses are now available for bidding at the public auction on Calypso. For complete details about the licenses, please read the Banking Licenses Info.
Shopping Malls

All shopping malls now have televators on each floor.
Shopkeepers

Retail price information (markup +TT, or % for stackables and limited items) is now included for items sold through a Shopkeeper.
The fee for making an item available through a Shopkeeper by setting its price has been removed. Deterioration of Shopkeepers when items are sold has been reduced considerably.
A 2.5% regressive markup tax has been introduced for all sales made through all Shopkeepers in the Entropia Universe. This tax is paid to the landowner.
The existing fixed tax of 2.5% paid by shop owners to landowners has also been made regressive.
Just like the auction, the regressive tax on the markup makes sure that as the markup value increases, the tax percentage decreases, ensuring that the total tax will never exceed 50 PED.
Auction

Extra information (markup +TT, or % for stackables) added to auction messages when an auction has been won, when a bid has been surpassed and when an item has expired without being sold.
Graphics

Several new outposts have been created on Eudoria. Continued improvement to avatar body parts including fingernails for female avatars and better definition in the head, neck and shoulders area.
Lighting & Shading

Improvements have continued with the introduction of light and shading effects indoors. Things are looking better than ever.
Action Book

Continued color coding of ACTION LIBRARY categories plus new icon designs.
Team Rule

Due to exploits in PvP combat, the ’Leader takes All’ rule has been replaced with Looter takes All – the team member that loots a creature first always receives all items found. When looting another participant, the loot is given to the team member that inflicted the most damage.
Loot Distribution

We have adjusted how often low to mid-range creatures carry loot. However, as the loot size depends on how often the creatures carry loot, the overall loot has not changed.
New Items

New weapons shipments have arrived on Calypso. Volume II of the equipment blueprint has been added to the Technician.
Condition Limit

A Condition Limit has been introduced for items. The Condition Limit, now included in the Item Info panel, is the lowest possible condition an item can have and still be operated.
Music & Sound
The inclusion of 10 new tracks brings the Entropia Universe play list to over 100 original soundtracks for your adventures on Calypso.
Different sounds have been added for the different refiners.
Other Enhancements
A Gold Card advertisement has been included In-World in the first in a series of account security awareness campaigns.
Old ’Project Entropia’ signs removed from the new arrivals landing area in Port Atlantis.
Sitting avatars that could run around have been corrected.
The Default button in the Options panel now resets all settings to default, including the sound, music and gamma sliders.
New canon towers added at Omegaton West Habitat.
Numerous graphics bug fixes.
Incorrect pet animations have been fixed.
Laser sights and scopes can no longer be attached to MindForce chips.
Several furniture items that could not be interacted with correctly have been fixed.
Coloring system problems fixed.
Footstep sounds when moving forward have been fixed and their volume adjusted.
Version Update 8.9.1

2007-02-08
Adjustments to Participant Content system.
A bug causing avatars to get stuck in stools has been fixed.
Team rule ’Looter takes All’ working properly.
Version Update 8.9.2

2007-02-13
Space flight is now working correctly again.
The different weapon effect colors have been restored.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.11

2007-03-20

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Akmuul Island

A whole new island has been opened up for PvP combat excitement in southern Amethera. Akmuul Island holds a few surprises for everybody, with new areas and settlements to explore, undiscovered native inhabitants, undiscovered raw materials and even two new land areas available for sale.

PvP combat has also been enhanced to make better use of a participant’s accuracy.
Market Value

The Market Value history of items is now available to all in the Entropia Universe. When opening an Item Info panel, a new Market Value icon, in the lower right corner, allows any participant to see the value history of an item based on data taken directly from the official Entropia Universe Auction. The new icon has also been added to the Action Library.

This free service will allow participants to examine both detailed and average trends at daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and even decade intervals. More information is available in the updated Auction Guide.
Resolution

The Entropia Universe can now run on higher resolutions depending on your Graphics Card and Monitor capabilities. You can select desired resolution for Windowed and Full Screen modes in the Login Window Options dialog. Please see the updated Start, Login & Connection Guide.
Participant Content

A new property has been added to Participant Content capable items, displaying the name of the avatar that last modified the content. This will help in verifying the authenticity of art works exchanging hands within the Entropia Universe.
Graphics
Light & Shading

Light and shading improvements continue with shading of the avatar in the inventory view, item shading in the item info view, and the introduction of bump, specular and reflection textures on ingots, precious stones, Atrox and a robot model to begin with.
Numerous other small graphical improvements have also been made including:
General graphical improvement of Icons like having their corners rounded and a little shading added.
Adjustments have been made to the close and help icons of the Keyboard Mapping system and the small buttons on the HUD.
Several ingots have received new appearances to increase variation.
Palms Corner has received some attention: The Shop Container and storage terminals now work. The rock on top of the teleporter has been relocated and some flickering textures have been fixed.
A number of lamps have been adjusted as they were not giving enough light. Fireplace light has also been adjusted to give a warmer glow.
New Items

A range of new items have been added including a new TT Medical Kit and new TT Mining Tools. Other new items in areas like combat and manufacturing have also been included.
Basic Properties

Items now have their basic properties (M, F, L, C, D and PC) included in their Inventory view.
Sound

New outposts and new equipment have new sounds.
Other Enhancements
The Split Item interface has been redone.
Manual rotation of Items is now available in the Item Info View Controls. Disable auto-rotation first and use the mouse wheel to zoom in/out and rotate in any direction.
The PvP anomaly inside the Trade Center at Rei’s Defense has been cleared up.
The revival terminal has been moved closer to the Gun turret at Nea’s Place.

Project Entropia Version Update 8.12

2007-06-04

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Northern Amethera

Official terraforming units have successfully pushed further north from the Shinook Jungle and terraformed large new areas of Amethera. Classified reports leaked from a source within the department claim the initial terraforming units were forced to engage never-before-seen robot support units already busy in the area and heading south east. Colonists are urged to exercise caution when visiting the new areas.

Teleport settlements have been constructed, terminals installed, and many new and unique animals discovered in the new mountain ranges and unique climate zones of Calypso’s second continent.
Akmuul Island PvP

Safe zones that existed in the Akmuul Island PvP zone have been overrun by the native Mul inhabitants, making the entire zone an outlaw PvP area.
Information & Interaction Panels

The ’Ctrl + Tab’ keys can now be used to select different open panels on your Entropia desktop. Once selected, the various functions of a panel can be selected and initiated using the ’Tab’ and ’Enter’ keys.

N.B. ’Shift + Ctrl + Tab’ to move backwards through open panels and ’Shift + Tab’ to move backwards through functions of a panel.
Graphics

As well as a range of exciting new items and supporting graphics included in this Version Update:
New background images have been added to the Ad System.
A number of new crosshair designs have been included in AIM mode (default key ’N’ to toggle).
The text font used in the Entropia Universe has been enhanced.
Several interaction panels, including the shopkeeper have been redesigned.
Signs have been installed in Amethera settlements like Omegaton West Habitat to make navigation easier.
The Auction

Mannequins can now be sold on the auction.

When placing an order in the auction, the price may now be specified according to the existing convention: ’maximum markup addition’ in PED for unlimited items, and ’percent of Trade Terminal value’ for unlimited and stackable items.
Shopkeepers

The ’Item Sold’ message now includes information about which item was sold, where and when it was sold, for how much is was sold and to whom.

The shopkeeper pad (and mannequin pad) no longer need to be activated; simply place the pad on the ground and the shopkeeper appears automatically.

A message is now displayed when a shopkeeper reaches its maximum item limit of 20. When items are removed from the shopkeeper the item count is correctly updated.

Retail prices must be set at a minimum of Trade Terminal value + 1 PED. The Retail Price is updated immediately in the Item Info when the price is set.
Account Security

As part of a continuing effort to raise awareness about account security, a new tutorial has been included encouraging participants to invest in the Gold Card Security System when their account reaches 1000 PED.
Armor & Clothing

Entropia’s famous orange arrivals clothing can now be sold or moved to storage. Only one set is ever issued to new arrivals and cannot be replaced. Undergarments received on arrival can no longer be removed from avatars, and are automatically put on when no other garment is present.

The coloring process will now deteriorate clothing. In order to compensate this change, deterioration caused by the bleaching process has been halved.

Condition Limits have been introduced for clothes and armors.
Handheld Tools/Weapons

A limit of ’two tool/weapon changes per second’ has been introduced to optimize server prestanda.
Signs, Screens & Displays

’Item Points’ information has been included in the Item Info for Signs, Screens & Displays.
Mentors & Disciples

A ’confirm action’ panel has been included when a disciple presses the ’kick mentor’ button in order to reduce accidental dismissals.
Colonist Security

Due to increasing casualties at Calypso’s main landing site in Port Atlantis, cannon towers have been installed inside the main landing zone to protect new arrivals as they step off the shuttle.

A cannon tower has been installed at the revival terminal in Hadesheim also.
Crystal Palace

A repair terminal has been placed at the revive terminals for domes 3 and 4.
New Items

Many new items (on a par with VU 8.7) have been added to the Entropia Universe and are waiting to be discovered. Enjoy!
Music & Sound

Supporting sounds have been included for a range of new items, life forms and more.

Ten brand new tracks have been included to sooth your adventures in the Entropia Universe.
Login Window

The ’Most Sold Auction Items’ section has been removed from the Entropia Universe Login Window.
Mining

When a claim expires, the type of resource is now also displayed in the message.
Other Enhancements:
A bug in the corner of small mall shops that caused avatars to sink into the ground a little has been fixed.
The Ad Screen on the Service Center in Port Atlantis has been turned around so that sound is projected to the viewer outside and not into the Service Center.
Descriptions added to teleporters.
Work has been carried out to reduce lag during events.
New tutorial messages added for shopkeepers and mannequins.
New graphics for PED and PEC coins.
Inventory item amounts over 1k now display the full value when the cursor is held over them.
It is no longer possible to stand on another avatar’s head.
Auctioneer in Minopolis.
When using televators, the desired floor number can be chosen with the numerical pad on your keyboard.
The condition limit for blueprints has been changed from 3% to 2%.
Lila lamps intensity has been toned down a little. The Nallo ceiling lamp has had its light changed to a more pleasant glow.
Numerous graphics bug fixes and several new textures for existing items.
A bug causing avatars’ waists to disappear with certain garment configurations has been fixed.
Version Update 8.12.1:

07-06-05
Crashes during repair fixed.
Item info now opens in front of the Trade Terminal window again.
The zooming with scopes corrected.
Best possible result preview for coloring changed.
Adjustments have been made to resolve some connection issues.
Version Update 8.12.2:

07-06-07
Scanning an avatar that has an equipped mindforce chip is now safe.
The oil rig extracts oil again.

Project Entropia Version Update 9.0

2007-10-09

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Avatar Creation

Avatars, armors and clothes have been remodeled. Improvements include:
Increased polygon count.
Higher resolution texture maps.
Normal mapping technology.
Reflective and glossy surfaces.
Dynamic level of detail technology (see below).
Advanced shader usage allowing realistic combinations of different clothing materials.
Existing avatars will now have the opportunity to remodel their avatars. Please take your time during the remodeling process as the procedure cannot be changed once ’Accepted’. A tip in achieving a unique appearance is to begin by randomizing the basic avatar before going into detail.
Facial expressions will be introduced in a later Version Update.
Beauty Specialists have access to a greater range of avatar modifications than the initial Avatar Creation process.
Banks

Bank buildings and functionality have now been introduced to Port Atlantis, Twin Peaks, New Oxford and Fort Argus. The fifth bank will be introduced shortly when its design has been completed. Bank owners will configure their services over the coming days.
Inventory

The Inventory has been redesigned. Increased functionality includes:
Categories have been reorganized and new categories introduced.
A new “View Equipped/All” toggle button allows you to quickly view which Inventory items your avatar has equipped.
A new “Compact” button allows you to automatically reorganize your Inventory making the most efficient use of available space.
A new “Avatar Camera Focus” button allows you to instantly bring your avatar into In-World camera focus.
It is now possible to Equip/Unequip by directly dragging items to/from your In-World avatar.
The inventory “Avatar View” section has been separated and is display optional.
Equipped Items are highlighted in blue in your Inventory “All” view.
Quick Menu functionality has been introduced for all Inventory objects allowing you to right click on items in your inventory and quickly view “Avatar Info”, “Market Value”, or “Equip/Unequip”, “Split”, “Open”, “Detach Attachments”, and “Merge All” for similar stacks.
Items entering the Inventory are automatically sorted to the correct category.
Trade Terminal

The Trade Terminal interface has been redesigned. Improvements include:
“Buy” and “Sell” are now two separate transactions.
Unique amounts of ammunition/bombs/probes can be instantly bought, for example 87 probes or 3049 Medium Weapon Cells.
A “Confirm Transaction” panel has been introduced listing all items being sold to the Trade Terminal. Items mistakenly sold to the Trade Terminal will no longer be replaced by the Support Dept.
Repair Terminal

The Repair Terminal interface has been redesigned. Also:
A “Confirm Transaction” panel has been introduced.
The default repair setting is now 100%. Use the slider to change repair percentage.
It is now possible to repair equipped MindForce implants using the “Add Equipped” function.
Equipment with attachments can now be repaired without having to separate the different pieces.
Storage Terminal

The Storage Terminal interface has been redesigned to reflect the same layout as the new Inventory including automatic item sorting (as Inventory) and the “Compact” button function (as Inventory).
Action Library

The ’Friend’ section of the Action Library is renamed ’Avatar’ and has received several actions previously founding the ’Interaction’ section, including Avatar Info, Society and Team actions.
Coloring

The coloring system has been enhanced. Improvements include:
Paint Cans have been redesigned and new colors introduced.
A saturation slider has been introduced to the coloring process to allow better control over the final color.
Lower skilled participants may attempt difficult colors but with lower success rate. A warning message is displayed when attempting to use colors above recommended skill level.
’Success Rate’ and ’Professional Requirement’ information for all colors has been added in the Item Info panel.
Coloring using Paint Cans with difficulty matching your skills will give a learning period skill increase bonus.
The success rate has been revised to better reflect skill level and amount of paint cans used.
The amount of paint used when coloring will affect coloring results.
Most of the Paint Can value is now transferred to the colored item.
Items no longer deteriorate when colored.

Participants with Paint Cans in their inventory may notice that their amounts have changed. No loss of value has been incurred as the system was rebalanced to provide the same output from fewer cans.

The words “Uncolored” and specific leather type names have been removed from Item names. The information can be found in the Item Info stats instead.
Armor/Clothing
Armor Foot Guards are finally introduced. No extra damage will be incurred by avatars without Foot Guards until Version Update 9.1.
The increased detail of armor and clothing will demand more system performance. In an attempt to stave off a lag increase, a deterioration of 2 PEC per item has been introduced when equipping garments and armor. Increased realism will make clothes look more worn as their condition diminishes.
Just like today, all combinations of different armors and clothes will not be perfect but many new unforeseen combinations will look great.
Dynamic Level of Detail

A new ’Avatar Quality’ slider has been included in the In-World Options panel allowing participants to increase or decrease the quality of avatars in their vicinity. A higher value allows better quality textures but increases memory consumption on the video card. A reduced value allows more avatars to be in view without increasing lag.
Navigation

Following feedback from the Entropia Guides, default navigation has also been mapped to the arrow keys on the keyboard. Your avatar can be rotated by right clicking, holding and moving the mouse. Unfortunately this was not compatible with the ’Instant Action Menu’ option and it has therefore been removed from the In-World Options panel.
Beauty Styling

Only the basic range of hairstyles is available in this Version Update. A complete range of extra hairstyles will be added in Version Update 9.1.
Items

A wide range of new items have been introduced.

In the near future we will increase participant customization of various items including clothes, furniture, storage boxes and more. Participants will be able to apply different materials like metal, wood, leather and latex to customizable items. Due to the ongoing development process of this feature, crafting with leather has been disabled.
Login Window Options

“Disable Shaders”, “Lower Resolution Icons”, “Low Resolution Avatar Texture”, and “Reduced Visual Effects” options have been removed from the Login Window Options panel.
Entropia Universe Web Site

The Account Application Process has been optimized.
Support

Support Dept. services have now been extended to Saturdays.
Other Enhancements
The “Equipment” category in the Auction has been renamed “Components”.
An Extract PED/PEC function has been added to the PED Card Item Info panel.
The “Attitude” feature, which allows society members of Rank 1 to set a relationship attitude to other approved societies, has been fixed.
Also, the Umbranoid species have disappeared from Calypso for the time being.
Version Update 9.0.1

2007-10-11
The ’Add All’ function in the Repair Terminal no longer destroys items Key Mappings and Desktop Icons.
The Techtonic (F) jacket no longer causes torsos to disappear.
Grassy Slacks (F) are fully visible again.
Dodge skills are now included in fighting creatures with long range attack abilities.
Shop owners can again pick up items in display areas.
Item Info is again visible in private trade.
Version Update 9.0.2

2007-10-16
The 2 PEC deterioration of Limited armor pieces when equipping has been removed.
The deterioration of Unlimited armor pieces has been reduced to 1 PEC per equip.
An option is now available to change between aim and cursor mode by pressing the middle mouse button. The existing function of changing camera direction with the middle mouse button is now available as a configurable Action.
Stability fixes have been introduced to reduce client crashes.
Light settings have been adjusted in Avatar Creation.
The ’lying down’ animation has been corrected.
Several objects missing textuers have been corrected.
Numerous clothing graphical fixes including droplet skirts, coats and more.
Weapon sounds fixed.
Feedback messages when trying to color ’uncolorable’ items. Also when bleaching has been successful.
Terrain fixes in New Oxford and Omegaton City.
The Spiral Street Night Shift Jacket (m) and (f) have the correct colors
The weight of paint cans has been adjusted.
Version Update 9.0.3

2007-10-23
Slight adjustment made to extreme avatar body sizes. All avatars are adjusted towards average size. In comparison to VU 9.0, the tallest possible avatar will be app. 10 cm smaller and the smallest possible avatar will be app. 10 cm taller.
Stability fixes have been introduced to reduce client and server crashes.
Numerous clothing graphical fixes and colors matching/adjustments made, including Renegade Fashion Maze-series, Luna Line Solar-series, Urban Nomad Scarlet coat, Spiral Street Night Shift jacket, Omegaton Jungle Walkers, Renegade Citadel Fashion-series, Urban Nomad Grassy shirt, Luna Line Pulsar pants, Urban Nomad Blue briefs, Storm jeans, Pleat Coat, Lina Line Corona shirt, Droplet skirt, White jumper, and more.
Creatures killed will stay unmoving.
Added message window when equipping clothes/armor that remove a previous worn piece.
Basic Relays can once again be seen.
Some unauthorized wall building in Fort Ithaca has been removed.
A gun turret has been added to the Revival terminal by LA 39.
The bar in Fort Ithaca is once again firmly attached to the ground.
Moving avatars has a more stable walk and run stance.
After a short stint of sales, the TT once again sell the Castorian Combat EnBlade-1 instead of the EnBlade-A.
The auction no longer shows the same message three times when selling boxes with items.
You can now dismiss a newly tamed animal.
The Buy and Sell buttons exchanged in Trade terminal
Changed popup warning message when Inventory reaches 200 items to a mailbox warning message instead.

Project Entropia Version Update 9.1

2007-12-11

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
Beauty

A range of cosmetic products including foundation, eyeliner, eye shadow, cosmetic pens, lipstick, rouge, powder, face paint and more have been added to the Beauty System. The new Make Up system allows avatars to customize special make up masks for themselves and others. Please read the new Beauty section of the Participants Guide for further details.

This new system is not connected to avatar skills and is a trial in basing a system on participant’s real world skills.

A new ’Beauty’ section has been included in the Action Library containing all the necessary actions for the make up procedure.

Forty new hairstyles have been introduced to the beauty system.
Tailoring

The tailoring system has been enhanced with the addition of Material Texture customization options. All existing colorable items are now customizable, meaning participants can apply and remove custom colors and material textures.

Using new blueprints and extractors, Material Textures can now be manufactured from a range of well known minerals, precious stones and more. Using a new Texturizer tool, the Material Textures can then be applied to the various fields of customizable clothing. A range of further items including furniture will also be customizable in the near future.

The Colorator tool and Bleacher Attachment have received a visual update.

For further instructions on how to apply unique Material Textures to clothes, please read the new Tailoring section of the Participants Guide.
Entropia Universe Login

In order to further increase account security, Login and Password entry fields have been moved from the Login Window to the Entropia Universe Client. Launching the Entropia Universe Client is still carried out from the Login Window.
Armor
Armor Foot Guards

A new body armor part has been added. Armor foot guards are now included in hit location calculations. Accordingly, the hit rate on the different body armor parts has been adjusted.
Limited Armor Sets

A large range of new limited versions of previous existing armor sets have been introduced. All limited armors and limited armor platings, old and new, have received a 10000 point increase in durability to give them a competitive edge.
Armor Deterioration Adjustment

As before, absorbing massive damage in a single hit decays armor more than when absorbing equivalent damage over several minor hits. This difference in armor decay between the massive single attack and the multiple minor attacks has been reduced, meaning the massive single attack will decay armor slightly less and the multiple minor attacks will decay armor slightly more. This is an effort to make attack effects fairer.

The overall deterioration level remains the same.
Avatar Skills
The Avatar Info panel has been removed. Skill details can now be found in the new Avatar Skills panel (automatically mapped to the original Avatar Info key).
An ’All Categories’ option has also been included which now contains Promoter Rating and Reputation skills.
The previous system of rank grade rating e.g. Capable (Grade 1), Competent (Grade 2) etc. has been replaced by a graphical representation of rank progression.
Sorting options are available for Skill Name, Rank and Points by clicking column titles. Market History value information is also available when extracting skill points.
The Avatar Skills panel also saves your last view when you close the panel, presenting it again the next time you open the Avatar Skills panel during the same session. The panel is reset when you log out.
Mentor and Disciples info can now be viewed using the Mentor & Disciples action from the System section of the Action Library.
Choice in avatar name display has been removed. All avatar full names are now displayed.
The ’Make Cloth’ skill has been renamed to ’Make Textile’.
Key Mapping

When dropping an action or item icon on an existing desktop icon, an option will be offered to automatically map the new item/action to the key that was mapped to the previous existing item/action.
Hangars

Spacecraft are no longer locked to their home hangars. Spacecraft can now travel to any hangar the spacecraft owner may own.

In order to be able to operate a spaceship, the hangar needs to be unrestricted.
Hall Of Fame

All Hall Of Fame lists now include the top 100 entries.
Clothing
Graphical issues with the Leather Duster Coat have been fixed.
Adjustments to Pleat Coat (M) to remove holes on the back.
Holes in the Tank Top have been removed.
Luna Line Pulsar Pants now have the right pattern and color.
The droplet skirt can now be removed by dragging it to the inventory as with other clothes.
Thrill Seeker Actions Shorts colors have been fixed.
Urban Pattern Shirt (F,C) color fields corrected.
Condition Limit

The condition limit indicator now displays the usable condition range e.g. the top 10% condition for items with a 90% condition limit.
Calypso Buildings

The fifth and final bank has been introduced to Atlas Haven. Also, a Chinese CRD (Cyber Recreational Development Corp.) building has been introduced to New Oxford.
Chat

A new dedicated local chat channel for trade has been introduced. Participants are requested to use this channel for repeated trade announcements.
Land Management

As changes in land management can only be made once every 24 hours, the ’Ok’ button in the Land Management panel is disabled during this period.

Improvement Points are no longer drawn while the server is down.
Items, Actions, Professions & Skills

A large number of new items, actions, professions and skills have been added to support new systems introduced to the Entropia Universe. A number of surprises are also to be discovered.
Music

New tracks have been included for your adventures on Calypso, including several specially written PvP tracks.
Entropia Universe Website

The ’My Items’ section of the website now displays all items in their correct ’Container’ e.g. Carried, World, Stored, Estate, Shopkeeper, Auction etc.

Increased PayNova 3.0 deposit options are now available from the Deposit section of the website.

Gold Card users are now able to edit more account details at the ’My Section’ area of the Entropia Universe website.
Technical
The most common Client Crash causes have been fixed.
Measures have been carried out to reduce the occurrence of ’loot-lag’.
Internal technical tasks for the migration of Entropia Universe to the CryENGINE 2 platform have been performed.
Technical enhancements have been implemented to the Entropia Universe server park to increase up-time even more.
Other Enhancements
One of the boundary walls around the Port Atlantis bio lab has been adjusted to prevent avatars getting trapped within the complex.
A bug allowing the instant charging of MindForce chips by initiating the ’sweat’ action has been fixed.
All Weapons Traders now sell TT (Trade Terminal) weapons.
It is no longer necessary to reequip repaired items, which were below their condition limit and dragged directly from the avatar to the Repair Terminal, in order for their condition to be restored.
Adjustments to Fort Argus bank to prevent avatars getting stuck in stairs.
Attachments on other avatars’ weapons are now visible to all.
A ’Confirm’ panel has been included for processing ’Estate Maintenance’ payments.
The ’Big Bulk’ mob no longer inflicts burn damage.
Blueprint Books have been recolored to reflect the color of the blueprints they contain.
Avatar feet are now better positioned when sitting in chairs.
Flying rocks and dancing trees behave as they should again 🙂

Project Entropia Version Update 9.2

2008-01-29

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
CryENGINE2 Update

Currently, about 90% of MindArk’s programming resources are allocated to the adaptation process of the CryENGINE2. As a result VU 9.2 only contains minor developments visible to the public.

Three additional programmers have been employed to speed up the adaptation process, while we continue to search and accept applications for further programming positions (visit Mindark.com for more details). These will allow us to continue enhancing existing Entropia systems and develop exciting new content like space travel, exploration and combat once the integration phase is complete.
Material Customization

Texture customization has now been extended to all Customizable (C) items.

Using blueprints and extractors, Material Textures can be manufactured from a range of well known minerals, animal skins, precious stones and more. Using a Texturizer tool, the Material Textures can then be applied to the various fields of Customizable (C) items.

Customizable items’ names have been adjusted to reflect a more basic description e.g. Small Wooden Chair is now Small Chair.

For further instructions on how to apply unique Material Textures to Customizable (C) items, please read the Customizing section of the Manufacturing chapter of the Participants Guide.
Beauty
A low skilled hairstylist can now work on avatars that have high skill hair styles.
Party eye lenses are available for the best face sculptors.
A bug fix has resulted a slight change to the most extreme avatar faces. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this.
Face skin gloss effect enhanced.
The red color around avatars’ eyes has been reduced.
AI

The Allophyl, Estophyl, Araneatrox and Ambulimax species have been updated with new graphics and shader technology. Their behaviors have mutated in the process.

Creatures with high attack rates have slightly increased ’inflict critical hit’ ability.
Market Value

Market value averages and graph calculations for limited items have been modified. Limited item sales are now weighted based on the items TT value to give a more stable market value. As a result, the sales value for limited items and stackables now represents the total sales in PEDs instead of total amount of items. This change applies to all previous sales.
Storage

Storage performance has been improved to reduce storage ’freeze’ when opening and loading many items.
Graphics
All carpets have been redone with real shader settings.
The icons of several mineral stones have been reduced.
Ninja High Jacket collar fixed.
Crystal Palace

Creature density has been increased at Crystal Palace.
Hadesheim

A new Repair Terminal has been added close to the Hadesheim C teleporter.
Equipment Blueprints & Books

Equipment blueprints and books have been renamed to Component blueprints and books.
Items

A range of new items have been added and are waiting to be discovered.

All mats have now changed names to carpets.

To reduce litter, items with a value below 1 PEC cannot be dropped.
Other Enhancements
The ’Globals’ message channel is disabled by default for new arrivals.
Unresponsive auction when over 25 bids entered has been fixed.
Auction now correctly numbers bids over 26.
It is now possible to remove DNA during Land Management process again.
Land Taxes can be set correctly again.
Avatar weight is calculated correctly following refining.
Makeup Increase/Decrease brush size actions fixed.
Postures can again be set for shopkeepers, mannequins and bank tellers.
When an item is traded, its desk top item is removed completely.
Detach Attachments now possible for items in storage.
Names restored to status bar and target box for fruit, dung and stones.

Project Entropia Version Update 9.3

2008-05-20

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
CryENGINE®2 Update

The adaptation process of the CryENGINE®2 continues at full speed. We have completed the internal development of avatar, clothing and armor shaders that deliver Crysis visual quality without compromising the variation and participant customization features of Entropia Universe. A comprehensive restructuring of Entropia’s infrastructure has also been completed as a prerequisite for CryENGINE®2. This restructuring is included with this version update but should not be noticeable to any great degree at this point.

Textures and animations are being updated during the conversion process, and when seen in new internal environments utilizing the day and night cycle and different weather effects, the results are truly spectacular.

We will soon be releasing the first screenshots and film sequences from the new system.
Rx Base

Before being defeated during their latest sortie on Calypso, a small Rx Surveying Group did manage to construct a make shift base of operations in PvP 1. The improvised structure can now be seen and will surely be the site of many a tussle between invading Rx Units and Calypso’s defenders.
Entropia Guides

A new immigration building has been constructed at the landing zone in Port Atlantis. The official Entropia Guides will administer the new building providing tips, info and event details for new arrivals to Entropia Universe.
Localization

Entropia Universe is now officially available in German, French and Spanish language versions. Make your language choice from the Options panel of the Client Loader.
Avatar Info

An Avatar Info option has been added to the System category of the Action Library. Once opened, this panel allows you to choose how you wish to publicly display your avatar name.
Graphics
The skills panel has received a make over.
Signposts have been placed at popular junctions on Treasure Island.
New graphical design for the ’Exit Entropia’ panel.
Numerous small graphical improvements to mobile centers and various outposts e.g. the auctioneer area of mobile centers and vegetation in Twin Peaks.
Mineral refiner and energy refiner have been redesigned.
Avatar eye movement has been introduced.
Emotes

Nine new avatar postures have been added to the Action Library.
Species Attributes

The Feffoid, Atrox, Aurli, Combibo, Kreltin and Maffoid species’ attributes have been rebalanced making for more challenging prey. For further details please visit the Developers Blog section of the Entropia Universe website.
Technician

The Weapons (Vol. III) blueprint book has been added to the Technician.
Blueprints

Blueprints can now be dropped on any page of the relevant blueprint book. The book will automatically open the right page and the slot will flash briefly.

Quick menu added to blueprints including Item Info and Market Value options.
Auction

Items bought at the Trade Terminal (TT) can no longer be sold at the auction.

Markup information has been included in the order expired message.
Ad Terminals

Ad Terminals have been added to the auction rooms of all three shopping malls.
Chat

Chat history has been extended from 64 to 200 lines.

Chat scroll bar no longer resets when new text appears in chat window.
Item Info

When attaching/detaching items, an open Item Info panel is updated.
Mentorship

New rewards have been added to the Mentor program.
Items

A range of new items have been added and are waiting to be discovered including new items celebrating Entropia’s five year anniversary.

Wooden ’boards’ can now be refined and the refined materials used in crafting processes.

A new memorial has been added to Memorial Island.
Music

New music has been added for your adventures on Calypso.
Technical

Client memory optimizations resulting in 25%-50% less memory needed in client.

Network optimizations through reduced data transmission.
Other Enhancements
Pressing ESC during a make up session only exits the current tool application. All previously applied make up is preserved.
Storage container weight and item count are correctly calculated.
Scopes are now visible on all weapons again.
Additional space added to scroll end of Inventory and Storage for easy addition of items.
Society skill leader board no longer includes suspended members’ skills.
Known Issues 9.3

2008-05-21
Insert implants currently not working.
Items placed for sale at the auction are displayed at random positions.
Icon mapping lost when the item is moved in the inventory.
Items in Loot UI cannot be moved.
Construction will give you an incorrect “could not execute” message in the chat. This does not affect the action though.
Lockup Skills keep unlocking every time you relog.
Storage Boxes show incorrect weight BP books do not update immediately when filled with blueprints.
Version Update 9.3.1

2008-05-22
Technical performance improvements.
Skill implants may be correctly inserted again.
Items placed for sale at auction no longer randomly displayed.
Icon mapping no longer lost when moving iems in inventory.
Avatar eye movements enhanced.
Lock up skills corrected.

Project Entropia Version Update 9.3.4

2008-08-26

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
CryENGINE®2 Update

Adaptation of the CryENGINE®2 for the Entropia Universe platform is proceeding well. The process of making CryENGINE®2 suitable for independent Entropia planet development is in line with the planned time scale.

Since the previous update on May 20th this year, all interaction panels have been successfully converted,

employing improved design, effects and implementation techniques available through the CryENGINE®2. Following the textures and animations update in VU9.3, existing items are now being converted and introduced into the new Entropia environment.

The next period will see further infrastructure development and the completion of the audio integration process.
Dr. Almon Duchevs Logs

Leaked information suggests a new batch of logs from Dr. Almon Duchev will reveal how Duchev, while held prisoner in the strange realm beyond the orb, was forced to conduct scientific research for his captors, during which he discovered new materials which could be molded to amazing effect.

Essential in his subsequent escape from the demented realm, it seems Duchev created a wide range of fantastic new items like a camouflage body suit, great wings, rams horns and other exotic ceremonial paraphernalia which he used to disguise himself and flee from his savage captors. How much of it that made it back through the orb, and who may be in deadly pursuit is up to Calypso’s colonists to find out.
Xfire Building & Hours d’Entropia Competitions

In a strengthening of the partnership between Entropia and Xfire, an Xfire building has now been constructed in Port Atlantis. The official inauguration of the building will take place in September 17th, when official Xfire and Mindark avatars will preside over the prize ceremony for the new Play To Win and Video competitions beginning on September 2nd.

Stay tuned to the official Entropia and Xfire websites for further details today on how to enter these competitions and win specially designed Xfire Survival equipment for your adventures on Calypso.
Rx Unit 472 Report Transmission Intercept

Operation Relay…
Primary Objective: Prevent new weapon technology from falling into colonist hands…
Result: FAILURE
Recommendation: DEPLOY EVISCERATOR
Items

A range of new clothing and fashion items have been introduced, as well Japanese inspired furniture and useful domestic items and appliances which are waiting to be discovered.
Other Enhancements
Issues with avatar movement speed not being affected by inventory weight reduction operations e.g. ore refining, have been fixed.
Market stalls in Hadesheim working correctly.
Turret added to LA6.
Revival Terminals added to LA 5 and LA9.

Project Entropia Version Update 9.4

2009-02-16

THIS VERSION UPDATE HAS PRIMARILY ADDRESSED MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURAL AND TECHNICAL TASKS INVOLVED IN ADAPTING ENTROPIA UNIVERSE AS A PLATFORM FOR THE 3D INTERNET.

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT! ***
VERSION UPDATE FEATURES
CryENGINE2 Update

The implementation of Entropia Universe’s new graphical engine CryENGINE®2 is proceeding well. An official release schedule is being prepared for publication.
Planet Calypso Website

A new Planet Calypso website is now launched at http://www.planetcalypso.com. The new website is built with latest web techniques and includes an integrated search engine that simplifies search requests on all pages. The focus is now on Planet Calypso, but you will also find many of the familiar features, such as Account and Support sections that have been enhanced and updated with new features and functionality. These include:
A searchable Knowledge Base in the Support Section.
The possibility to add files to Support Cases.
News subscribe features.
Print and ’Tip a Friend’ features.
Additional Support categories.
A simplified Account Application (the system will request additional information when required).
A simplified Account administration with more possibilities to update and edit your Account information.
The ability to withdraw funds from your PED Card via the website.
A ’Transaction history’ section under ’My Account’ that allows you to track your deposit and withdrawal history.
A function for ordering the Gold Card Security Kit or single Gold Card Security items via the website (the option to order these items in-world has been temporarily removed).
An integrated search engine has been added to the website.
Music soundtracks are available for download from the Media section.
First Planet Company have re-explored the history of Planet Calypso and made it available in the Planet Calypso section.
Client Loader

The Client Loader has received a visual update.
Transfer Center

The in-world Transfer Center has been updated. More deposit options are now available in-world. A new Transaction History of the previous 12 months’ transactions.
Genesis Star

The Genesis Star mining corporation has opened a new headquarters in Twin Peaks , and we’re looking forward to a lot of exciting activities during the coming period.
Entropia Universe Cash Card

The Entropia Universe Cash Card is no longer available from the Trade Terminals on Calypso. A full refund has been made for all orders. The Cash Card offer will be reintroduced again when a stable and permanent option becomes available.
EULA & ToU

As stated in previous email information (Entropia Universe: Important Information – Feb.3 2009), the Entropia Universe (EULA) has been updated and new Terms of Use (ToU) included.
Other

Windows Vista is now officially supported.

… need to add a few vus here….

ersion Update 10.5 Content List

PLANET CALYPSO VERSION UPDATE 10.5
2009-12-10

***PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PLANET CALYPSO! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT!***

NEW AND RETURNED FUNCTIONALITY
Ticket event system is back and improved
As before, events can be set up at event managers or at the claim marker
Tickets are sold at the event managers or at the claim marker
New settings: Disable SatNav and Max Health
Upcoming events can now be found in a global Event list where you can see events and information about them (such as rules, prizes, participants etc) by area
The global event list can be found in the Action Menu under System-Main-Event List
There’s an icon for the Event list in the action library
If there are tickets remaining one hour before an event starts, an announcement is made in the Event channel of the Main chat
The winner of an event will be announced in the Event channel

FIXED ISSUES

Sound Issues
Fixed distance parameter for teleport, revive and death sound effects
Broadcaster sound distance reduced
Music volume setting now works correctly
Corrected sound cone for some ad screen models
Decoys no longer bleats forever if the decoy is dropped on the ground

Chat GUI Issues
Fixed issue where when losing private chat focus, you could not press enter to start main chat
Chat logs now shows correct recipient of private messages
Fixed issue where you could not select input channel if the main chat GUI was set as small as possible

Land Area Settings Issues
Public Event Area, PvP and SatNav settings can be changed in Land Area Settings as often as wanted
SatNav can be disabled in Land Area Settings

GUI Issues
Improved readability of the name over the health bar
Item flags (like M, F, C, PC etc) are again aligned to the left of inventory icons
In Item Info, Personal Avatar again shows the equipped items in tree view
The icon “Unequip all” is no longer gone from Personal Avatar
Drop shadow added to item count to make it easier to read
Death teleport GUI no longer steals focus

Miscellaneous Issues
Fixed issues with particle effects constantly increasing at some objects
Fixed exploit of getting sweating skill from under-water creatures

Version Update 10.5.2 Content List

PLANET CALYPSO VERSION UPDATE 10.5.2
2009-12-14

***PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PLANET CALYPSO! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT!***

FIXED ISSUES

Team Issues
Corrected tab order for settings in Team Settings Edit

Ticket Event Issues
Fixed issue with promoter being the only registered participant in an event with “accumulate” rules
Event name added to entry message of an active event area
Changed the buttons of the global event list GUI to match the other GUIs
The global message for events with remaining tickets is no longer sent twice
Corrected page numbers in registered participants list in Event settings
Added account balance check for registration UI; the Register button will be disabled if there is less money than the ticket prize in the account
Information about the winner, own event rank and notary skill is sent as offline message to all participants when the event ends
Added tooltips to Prize Items list
Fixed missing sound when pressing Ticket event tab
Trimmed extra spaces from friends in participant list
An event created to start in half-an-hour no longer posts a global message “event will start in 1 hour”
Long names of prize items are now truncated with ellipsis if they don’t fit

Version Update 10.6 Content List

PLANET CALYPSO VERSION UPDATE 10.6
2009-12-17

***PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PLANET CALYPSO! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT!***

RESETTLEMENT UPDATE

A joint research project on Earth and Calypso has isolated some of the factors of Calypso’s rapid evolution. Called “fragments”, the first practical use of these items is to enhance the performance of equipment.

“Now that we know what to look for”, says RDI spokesperson Randolph Vemlick, “it is actually pretty easy to harvest and use fragments.”

So far, one kind of fragments, Blazar fragments, has been isolated.

NEW FUNCTIONALITY

Item Enhancement system
Weapons, Armors, Mining Tools and Fast Aid Packs have a new property called Tier
Tier increases independently for each item when it is used
Tier Increase Rate (TIR) indicates how fast Tier increases and is different for each item (shown in Items Info)
Limited items increase Tier faster than unlimited items
Major Tiers (1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc) unlocks Sockets, i.e. an item with Tier 4.0 has four unlocked Sockets
Limited items are automatically Upgraded when they get to a new major Tier (Tier 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc)
Unlimited items must be Upgraded through a manual process when they are about to reach a new major Tier (Tier 0.9, 1.9, 2.9 etc)
Upgrading an Unlimited item requires ingredients; if it succeeds, it takes the item to the new major Tier (Tier 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc)
There is a new type of item called Enhancer
Enhancers can be connected to Sockets (and connected Enhancers can be disconnected)
Connected Enhancers modify the stats of an item
Enhancers are stackable but their effect is not affected by stack size
Connected Enhancers may break when the item they are connected to is used, which reduces the connected stack size
Enhancers are craftable and are a new addition to the manufacturing system, with a new profession and skills

Ammo Value Change

In order to make ammunition consumption to work with the Item Enhancement, the following changes have been made:
Ammunition value has been divided by 100 – where you got 100 BLP ammo per ped before, you now get 10,000
Ammo burn is multiplied by 100 – if your ammo burn was 7 before this update, it’s 700 now
Everyone’s ammunition amount has been multiplied by 100 – if you had 9,400 ammo before this update, you have 940,000 now

FIXED ISSUES

Creature Issues
Idle creatures are not standing still as much as before
Loot distance increased

Client Loader Issues
Fixed issue where the Client Loader’s launch button could start both patch and client

Item Issues
Umbranoid suits no longer makes you invisible
Gullaldr Shades and Racer Shades are no longer glowing

Screen Issues
Content on the Xlite-S series are now properly aligned
Adjusted brightness of ads on all screens for Player Content

Miscellaneous Issues
Fixed issue with existing bids in auction not counted as usable asset when raising a bid
“Show on map” added to context menu for mining and estate deeds
Adjusted sound for seismic bomb
Timeout for being idle before logout changed to 1 hour
Improved stability

KNOWN ISSUES
Items with tier 1.0 or greater cannot be traded in PvP trade
No warning message displayed when enhancers break
Light BLP Packs and Light Weapon Cells does not show the “k” if the ammo stack is 100k or larger; the ammo is there, but the “k” is not shown
File validation is not yet fully implemented

Version Update 10.6.1 Content List

PLANET CALYPSO VERSION UPDATE 10.6.1
2009-12-18

***PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY IN PLANET CALYPSO! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE CONTACTING THE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT!***

Fixed Issues
Adjusted amount of ammunition in loot to reflect the value change of ammunition
Fixed issue with the listing of items under the Won tab in Auction
Client Loader now has file validation tool, under the File menu at the top
Windows 7 is now supported

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropia_Universe

… THE ONE CONSTANT IN ENTROPIA UNIVERSE IS CHANGE!!!! Embrace change and you will survive well. If you hate change, the balancing manager will strike and your avatar will be taken out of the virtual universe as your distaste of the world your avatar survives in is something you find yourself no longer able to survive in…

===edit==
For future articles/blog posts like this one please see my other blog dedictated to Entropia: http://entropiatrash.wordpress.com
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Welcome to Jeff Thomann’s “official” new blog. (or JEFF’S ONE BLOG)

I’ve started a number of various blogs on blogspot.com in the past on a wide variety of topics, but never got many or any of them too far because I would start something, get on to another topic, abandon the blog, and not come back to it later.  I am sort of doing a “redo” here and starting over from scratch here on wordpress.  I’m doing this so that I have ONE blog and only ONE blog… I’ll post a link to this ONE blog from my multiple other blogs later so that they all eventually lead you here.  I like it over here a lot better than over there because here you can do tags and things a lot easier.

I’ll warn you now… I’m a bit of an eccentric individual with a lot of various hobbies, interests, and things, so will likely post about a lot of different things over time.  I’ll try to post Tags to each entry to make it easier to maneuver around the upcoming massive amount of posts about all sorts of things under the sun…  I’m in to drawing, painting, 3d animation, photoshop, sketching, video gaming, role playing, theater, the tech side of movie making and theater, art history, free-to-air satellite reception, internet tv, and a lot of other things.

A little about me… I’m a 30 something (possibly 40-60 something by the time you read this) year old, married man.  I live in the mid-west.  I have a BFA in Studio Art,with an emphasis in painting, and a minor in Theater.  I graduated from Truman State University in last century (December, 1999). I have the most amazing child who was recently born! We love her dearly.

I love oil painting, but don’t paint much these days due to lack of time and lack of a studio with a descent ventilation system.  Instead, I doodle with color pencils in my sketch books and panels in my spare time, or mess around with creating sketchy type things in Photoshop, MS Paint, 3d Blender Portable, Lightave 3d, or whatever other artsy tools I can get my hands on at the time.

When I graduated from college, I had a lot of interests in finding ways of combining my backgrounds of theater and art, and found myself studying 3d animation on my own.  Because of that, I got in to Newtek’s Lightwave 3d, which at the time was the only halfway descent priced 3d package on the market that could do some descent levels of animation.  I never got too far in to doing a lot of in-depth animation projects with that because I didn’t have time to create a lot of stuff, and also constantly found myself having hard drive failures, cds that got busted due to improper storage, and other hardware problems that erased everything.  I might get back in to it eventually.

I also like taking digital photographs of various objects and textures that I use for reference photos or to upload as reference photos for others on Turbosquid.  I like Turbosquid vs other places because it’s more forgiving to people that upload things without doing a lot of editing.  I like for photos that are reference shots to stay unedited so that there’s more of the direct just shot looks and feel to the photos, making it like an unblemished, raw material ready for an artist to pick it up and mold it in to something on their own.

I like playing and creating video games, but have not really done any real video game creation full scale yet.  However, I have several tools to do so if I venture in to that someday – Photoshop 5 LE, Torque Game Engine, 3d Rad, 3 Impact Game Engine, Lightwave 3d, Motion Builder, and a lot of various 3d and 2d packages that I’ve picked up for cheap or free on magazine cds over the years, or outright purchased.

I like poetry.  I would not mind writing a book or play someday.  I have tried to write for nanowrimo before, but never completed the book that year since it was the year we bought our house in the same month that I was trying to do that. (We don’t have that house any longer, but it was a nice accomplishment for me to obtain it, a wife, and dog all by age 30! 🙂 )

I will post more later.  I’m out of time right now.  Thank’s for visiting.  Hope to see you here again.