Entropia Archive

PROJECT ENTROPIA COMMERCIAL OPEN TRIAL: PATCH 2
Hello!
Here are the major parts of the COT Patch 2, which is to be applied to the Project Entropia Commercial Open Trial version. The information herein is divided into categories; Bug fixes, Gameplay Enhancements, and Known Bugs. This is not a complete listing, as we make several small enhancements regularly. This listing is to be regarded as a listing of the major key elements of this patch.
**BUG FIXES
Inventory fixes**
Several things in the inventory category have been fixed.
General server stability issues have been fixed
A lot of minor tweaks and fixes have been applied to the universe system. One of the major issues was with a very nasty critical server-crashing bug in the collision detection sub-system, which has been remedied. This bug alone was responsible for numerous server crashes. Now it is squashed.
Skill ratings on blueprints will not diminish anymore
The bug that reset the skill ratings on the blueprints as an effect of the corrupted inventory is fixed.
Dead animals with wrong names
Exarosaur carcass and Cornundacaud carcass, which had the wrong name, have been fixed.
Construction machines
Clicking the Manufacture button too fast in the Create Armor or the Create Weapon machines would sometimes lead to errors
Sulphur lakes did not work correctly
Now they do.
Tools
Equipping non-weapon tools could sometimes lead to errors. This is now fixed.
Locked UI&Keyboard bug
Sometimes the login would fail and only half the dashboard was visible, complete with a locked keyboard. This is fixed.
Mining time limit
Previously the radar that pops up when mining could disappear after just a few seconds. This time limit is now set higher.
**GAMEPLAY
Items variation**
Even more items have been added to the world, together with both treasures and loots.
New monster behaviour
Several of the monsters have gotten more distinctive behaviours, like the Atrax, which is no longer likely to flee even if badly damaged. The monster AI is updated across the board.
More new things with the chat
Several new improvements have been made to the chat, specifically between players.
Huge drill towers
For those mining tycoons out there the addition of drill towers now exists for those truly huge deposits.
Teleporters
A lot of teleporters are now available on the Calypso surface, making travelling swifter and less tiresome.
Society
Participants can now form official societies, elect members, and have leaders etc. For further in-depth info about the society system, please consult the Project Entropia Manual.
Manual
The Project Entropia Manual is updated and comes with the patch. It is available in Acrobat PDF format in your Project Entropia Folder on your hard drive.
Death
When you are dead, you are more aware of this. The body icon by the bottom bars are changed into a nice blood red color, and the general look is turned reddish while in first person view.
Voting booths
Several Voting Booths have been placed near almost all of the "red dots" on the map, i.e. near the cities, outposts and shoping containers. Vote away!
**KNOWN BUGS / ANNOYING EVENTS
Corrupted Inventory**
The inventory still gets corrupted in certain instances, mostly due to delays in the entire system in connection to logoff. The CI message also comes up in some rare instances when the inventory is not corrupted! This is not harmful, but severely annoying. Sometimes the inventory gets corrupted if the participant begins to move items around in the inventory directly from login.
Obsolete tools
Several of the tools have become obsolete. The best way is to recycle them and purchase new ones. This does not cost you any further money.
Regards
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Please post follow up questions for MindArk staff in a new thread. MindArk normally does not revisit threads after answering
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Marco Behrmann
Community Representative
MindArk AB

Hello!
2002-08-09
Problems accessing the Trade Terminals
If you have a problem accessing the Trade Terminals, please try to move while you click on the terminal, like strafing left/right. It's a silly workaround, but it works. This problem will be fixed.
Money lost due to bugs
Those of you that have lost money due to bugs will be compensated if your claim is valid. Please email Support with your story and we will check our records. Compensation will take place some time in the future, when the current version of PE is more stable.
Bombs gone missing
The problem with the mining bombs disappearing is located and a fix will be up later today. To apply the fix, just quit PE and the Client Loader will update PE automatically.
MindArk is very sorry for the problems, and frustration caused by all this. We wish to thank our wonderful community for their dedication and support of making PE the best experience there is!
Thank you all.
Regards
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Please post follow up questions for MindArk staff in a new thread. MindArk normally does not revisit threads after answering
-------------------------------------
Marco Behrmann
Community Representative
MindArk AB

Late October 2002

"We released a patch in late October, version 3.9. This was a stability and bug fix patch mostly. For those new users out there who aren.t familiar with its contents, the most significant changes are listed below:

• A new avatar creation screen (new look required, but you get to keep your skills/ inventory).
• Infamous "deadshell" bug is fixed.
• Quickkey update - if you choose a function key that is not assigned, your currently equipped tool/weapon is unequipped.
• All newly arrived colonists will have the same brand of clothes.
• The item positions in the inventory are saved and not rearranged every time an item is moved/merged/split.
• New special effects involving death and revival.
• More sounds all over the board.
• Balancing done in the hunting, mining and crafting sections.
• Enhanced blueprint books.
• New Request Interface added.
• Updated Trade Terminal and Shops stock.
• More items added to the world.
• Improved support for some older video cards.
• Many creatures now carry more items and less actual money.
• The creatures of Calypso have moved around.
• Enhanced PvP Chat added.
• The Crafting process has been tweaked."

Construction System
The enhanced construction system will keep any would-be mechanic busy with several thousand unique components. Raw materials must be mined from Calypso and refined through several stages to produce finished goods, allowing for specialist professions to evolve from the different aspects of the construction process.

Skills System
With over 50 skills now available, ranging from Combat Reflexes, Courage, Geology and Engineering to Anatomy and Athletics, Project Entropia's skill system allows everybody to develop individual characters. Experience is quickly gained and can benefit several skills at once.

Other

• Weapon and the clothing system has been extended.

PROJECT ENTROPIA VERSION UPDATE 4.1
2002-12-20

* 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 4.1 (“VU 4.1”) for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of Project Entropia. Information about the content in the version update is located in this document.

*READ*
OLD CLAIM RODS EXPIRATION MISMATCH
*READ*
From the time the Project Entropia universe servers come back online, all old claim rods (ie. claim rods placed before the VU 4.1) will have an expiration time of 168 hours (one week), counting real time (not server uptime). The corresponding Claim Deeds show *NO* time limit, and stay in the inventory until 168 real hours has passed since the first avatar login since the VU 4.1 (ie. it is very possible to have claim deeds in the inventory after a week’s time pointing at Claim Rods that have expired)! The old deeds will also sometime show an expiration message twice, with some time between. We are sorry about this irritating bug. This is due to a bug in the synch between the rods and the deeds.
All claims found *AFTER* the VU 4.1 have the correct time synch, and the time limit will vary depending on the size of the claim (from one hour and up). Your Claim Deed will hold the current information, including the time limit.

*READ*
CONSTRUCTION COMPONENT REDESIGN
*READ*
The VU 4.1 has a revised component handling system in place. Do not worry - no old knowledge or money is lost by this. All components are transformed into stackable heaps of items, to reduce strain and loading delays. We will also adjust the values of the components, but without any actual loss or gain for anybody. For example - before VU 4.1, a "Component A" was non-stackable and had a value of 20 PEC. When it later is made stackable, its value might be, say, 4 PEC a piece instead. If a crafter has a "Component A" in his/her inventory the component will, after the VU 4.1, be transformed into 5 stackable "Component A" instead (keeping the total value of 20 PEC). Some low-level components may stack as an amount of zero items. If that is the case, please stack more items together or sell the component. The value is the same as before - no money is lost!

*READ*
MELEE WEAPONS UPDATE
*READ*
To update the bugged swords and knives you have to place the item in the Repair Terminal. That will eliminate the bug with the melee weapons doing only one point of damage and not showing decay on the client properly.

VERSION UPDATE FEATURES

Exchange
The Project Entropia Exchange is up! Here you can trade shares in various companies and organizations. The list of companies will increase as more and more are introduced. In the initial launch two entities exist - Sphere Ordnance (the Calypso ammunition manufacturer) and Friends of MindArk.

Society
The society terminals have been reopened, and have gone through a complete redesign. Now you can create your own society, or join others. Expect the functions to expand considerably in future VU:s.

City Protection
The outposts and cities of Calypso have received some automated defence systems helping colonists who find themselves chased by a predator. These defence systems will kill all hostile entities coming within range. Beware of hot shell casings!

Death
The death system is updated. Now a dead avatar is visible as an eerie ghost by live avatars.

Clothes
New clothes are present in Project Entropia, ranging from different underwear as well as more strict business suits.

New Blueprints Designs
There are several new designs available among the blueprints.

Music Galore!
The jukeboxes around Calypso now have a wide variety of music available. Also, the jukeboxes can be found in many more places than before, warranting a lot of cool music around.

Dance Extravaganza
Together with the new and expanded jukeboxes, there has also been a redesign in the Emote department - a new section has been created called “Dance”, which brings you several new dances to perform.

Special Christmas Surprise
Ho ho ho.

Tweaks in the Skill System
The skill system has been tweaked.

Project Entropia Time
There is a universal MindArk Time (or Calypso Time) present in the Project Entropia universe. Press the “C” button (as in “Clock”) to see the current Calypso Time. This is the time that is used in all systems in Project Entropia, including the Claim Rod Expiration Time limit.

World Size
The continent of Eudoria is completely opened up, allowing for a land mass approximately three times the size compared to the size before the VU 4.1. This also means that there is a new map present.

Claim Rod Expiration Time Limit
Claim Rods have had their old time limits shortened considerably, which now ranges from one hour and upwards, deepening on the size of the claim. Drill Towers are not affected by the Time Limit.
NOTE: When the VU 4.1 comes live, all old claim rods will have a time limit of 168 hours (one week) until they are removed. Please also check the “Read Section” above and the “Known Issues Section” below for further info.

Alternative Methods of Transferring Money into PEDs
You can visit the Project Entropia web shop https://shop.project-entropia.com to generate a receipt to use for money transfers with your real-life bank. The functions are available under the “Alt. Payment” button, at the bottom.

General Stability Update
A variety of technical systems in Project Entropia have undergone a big workout and are leaner, meaner and cleaner.

Updated Mobile Service Centers present
New MSC:s are present - several of the MSC Deluxe version have enhanced entertainment facilities and an Exchange terminals present.

Construction Components Redesign
The VU 4.1 has a revised component handling system in place. All components have been transformed into stackable heaps of items, to reduce strain and loading delays. Please also see the “Read Section” above.

Melee Weapons Bug Fixed
The bug that made melee weapons deal minimal damage and not update the condition on the client correctly has been fixed. Please note that you need to repair your weapons in order to update their status.

Attributes and Blueprint Quality Rating Values Fixed
The avatar attributes (Strength, Agility, etc.) and the Blueprint Quality Ratings were shown wrongly on the client, indicating values up to the millions. The correct values are now shown.

Autostacking Feature
All stackable items will automatically stack in the inventory, if possible. Old items have to be merged manually the first time though.

Sphere Ordnance Corporate HQ
One of the corporations, namely Sphere Ordnance, that are on the Exchange has a HQ located in Hadesheim.

Disable Sound Enhancement
The option to Disable Sound the sound under the Setup menu in the Login screen has been tweaked. If you experience sound problems during Project Entropia participation, please try to disable the sound and see if the problem persists.

Updated Sounds
Many sounds have been updated.

Blueprint Books Looks Updated
The looks on the blueprint books have been optimized.

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.

Crafting
Every time after you have pressed the “Take All” button in a crafting window and if there are two or more crafted items present, your have to restart the crafting process as the “Manufacture” button becomes stuck.

Missing icons on clothes and items
On certain PC configurations sometime the item icons in the inventory becomes 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.

Blueprint missing designs
If you check the “Stats” button on a blueprint, you do not see the designs (ie. which components that is required to make the blueprint component or item). To get the info about the different designs, you must load up the blueprint into a Construction machine. Sorry about the inconvenience.

Claim Rod Expiration Time Mismatch
From the time the Project Entropia universe servers come back online, all old claim rods (ie. claim rods placed before the VU 4.1) will have an expiration time of 168 hours (one week), counting real time (not server uptime). The corresponding Claim Deeds show *NO* time limit, and stay in the inventory until 168 real hours has passed since the first avatar login since the VU 4.1 (ie. it is very possible to have claim deeds in the inventory after a week’s time pointing at Claim Rods that have expired)! The old deeds will also sometime show an expiration message twice, with some time between. We are sorry about this irritating bug. This is due to a bug in the synch between the rods and the deeds.
All claims found *AFTER* the VU 4.1 have the correct time synch, and the time limit will vary depending on the size of the claim (from one hour and up). Your Claim Deed will hold the current information, including the time limit.

VU 4.2 PE Gone Gold!!!

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 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.

This message was edited January 28, 2003 15:30:56 GMT

Regards

Marco Behrmann
Community Representative
MindArk AB

PROJECT ENTROPIA VERSION UPDATE 4.3
2003-03-04

* 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 4.3 (“VU 4.3”) 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 AND UPGRADES

New Construction Areas
Two new areas of construction are introduced; Weapon Attachment Construction and Tool Construction.

Avatar Health Increase
The Avatar now gains Health when becoming more experienced.

New Avatar Animation and Emotes
A new “Away from keyboard” emote has been implemented to show fellow colonists when a participant is away from the keyboard. Also, several minor enhancements to the animations have been performed - most notable the new turn animation when an Avatar turns around.

More Trade NPCs
Several new trader NPCs have been introduced. Some of the terminals have been removed. Among the new traders is the Technician, who sells blueprints.

New Armor Available to Crafter
Several new armors have been introduced that are craftable only - some of these are the Trooper, Expedition and the Vampire.

Decoys
A new tool called the decoy has been introduced. This tool can throw a chasing monster off track for a short while.

New Skills
Several new skills have been introduced, together with skill icons.

Avatar Professional Standing Present
All avatars get a professional standing based on their expertise. This can be viewed in the Avatar stats section. If someone scans you, that info will also be visible.

New Transfer Amount Interface
To enhance functionality for those using the mouse, a new Transfer Amount UI has been introduced. It is most noticeable on the PED Card, where you now can withdraw PEC as well as PED.

Death Sequence Changed
When you die you now get the option to insta-teleport yourself to the last used Revival Terminal. If you have never used a Revival Terminal you still must travel to one.

Speed Bar on Tools
Several tools have a speed bar like the one on ranged weapons. Even more tools will have this in the future.

Increased Monster Behavior
Several monsters have been blessed with smarter behavior.

Changes to Refining
In order to increase performance you now must place a stack in a Refiner that is dividable by three (for Ore) or two (for Energy Matter) before you try to refine.

Problems Entering Doorways and Stairs Fixed
The problems when going up ramps, stairs or through doorways have been fixed.

Society Editable
You can now edit entered society information.

Carry Capacity
Instead of being binary as before, the carried weight gradually slows an Avatar down. If you carry more than 250 your Avatar can only walk.
NOTE: This limit will be reduced in future VU:s - please use your Storage Terminals. Also, carrying large inventories will reduce your performance and increase slowness to your experience.

Changes in the Traders’ Stock
The trade terminal will no longer sell weapon attachments, clothes or blueprints. The new place to find blueprints and books is on the Technician Trader. The number of Fast Aid Packs available will drop to the FAP-5 only. The rest will be removed from the stock entirely.

Items Info Touch-ups for Components
Several components have had their look changed in the Items Info window.

Mining Re-spawning Rebalanced
Mining areas will function much better now. Claim rods will disappear when they should.

Enhancement to the Autostack Function
The autostack function has been enhanced.

Closed Door Functionality Changed
When approaching a closed door, you will be notified about this.

Visible Shooting Bug Fixed
Sometimes you could see people with no ammo firing their weapons on your client. This has been fixed.

Blueprint Book Appearance Change
The upgrade routine on the blueprint books (when your book becomes more luxurious with more and better blueprints) has been updated.

No Longer Possible to Scan the Dead
You cannot use a scanner tool on restless souls.

Drill Towers Enhancement
The Drill Towers (which come automatically when you find a big deposit of ore or energy matter) have been enhanced.

Society Deletion after Seven Days
If a society does not consist of at least two members + one founder it will be removed automatically after seven days.

Updated Look on Drill Tower Deeds
The deeds associated with the Drill Towers have their own look separating them from the ordinary claim deeds.

Updated Sound Ranges
Several sound ranges have been tweaked.

Spelling Errors Fixed**
Several spelling errors have been fixed.

The Robots are up to Something...
Rumors about a new robot attack are floating around.

Monsters Maturity Level Shown
The monsters will have different sizes showing their maturity/difficulty level.

Added Mouse Wheel Support
You can now scroll with a mouse wheel in most interfaces.

Bandwidth Optimisation
Several updates have been done to decrease the amount of data needed for communication between the client and the server. NOTE: In the Client Loader, in the “Options” section, you should enter your connection speed. Entering the wrong info here will result in lower performance, as you will get packet loss and sub-optimised data streams. You will NOT get better performance choosing a connection speed higher than you have, as this will choke your client.

Updated performance when Transactions are Being Made
Several improvements have been made throughout Project Entropia to ensure maximum security when trading, constructing and mining.

Increased Speed in the Systems
Several optimisations to reduce “lag” and slowness in the systems have been conducted. This should increase performance in trading, mining, shooting, inventory management, etc.

“Undead” Monster Bug Resolved
The haunting bug of dead creatures striking back from the dead has been fixed.

Sound Bugs Fixed
Several sound bugs have been fixed.

Bug in the Skill Ranking Fixed
A bug resulting in no Skill rank at level 510-520 has been fixed.

Reduced CTD Rate when Clicking on a Blueprint Book
A bug often resulting in a CTD (Crash To Desktop) when clicking on blueprint books has been fixed.

Jukebox Can Now be Shut Off
For those music haters out there ,-)

KNOWN ISSUES

VISA Use Temporarily Disabled
Until the 3d Secure system is in place, the use of VISA in the Project Entropia Bank interface is suspended. Several alternative payment systems are being developed, in addition to the ones existing already on the Project Entropia web page (in the “Webshop” --> “Alt Payment” section).

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.

Auctions
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”.

April 9, 2003

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.

April 25, 2003 13:58:26 GMT

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!

5-18-2003
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.

Regards

Marco Behrmann
Community Manager
MindArk PE AB

=========================================================
Mini Patches
=========================================================

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.

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 optimized 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 optimized.

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.

ADDED: Gamma selection
You will be able to select your Gamma setting, making those with dark monitors see better.

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 to the avatar’s Personal Storage Facility.
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.

_
Regards
-Marco Behrmann
-Director of Community Relations
-MindArk PE AB

NOTE: I do NOT handle any kind of PE Support matters on the boards or in private messages.

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.
_
Regards
-Marco Behrmann
-Director of Community Relations
-MindArk PE AB

NOTE: I do NOT handle any kind of PE Support matters on the boards or in private messages.

Today an update to the Netcode of Project Entropia is performed. This will hopefully ease the problems some participants have experienced with disconnects.

VU 5.3 Listing

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 an 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. An 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.

• Added sounds to crafting machines.
• Raised the deposit limits (US$->PED) due to public demand.
• Fixed an issue with Avatar Information when accessing the Mindforce tab from the Tailoring tab.
• The Implant tool is decaying correctly.
• Updated positioning/orientation synch between server and client.
• Stopped the “run while concentrating” abuse when using Mindforce.
• Removed an issue where you could “delete” the Trade Terminal from your client.
• General performance optimization.
• An issue with the loot spawn on the Warlock robot has been corrected.
• Fixed the slowness in Fast Key Switching, and in other instances.

• Fixed Activating Teleporter location not being stored.
• Updated Teleporter streaming of new location.
• Fixed a scanner issue when scanning mutants.
• Fixed an issue with dropped item count in houses.
• An issue with monster spawn rates has been fixed.

• Fixed a floor issue with some houses
• Fixed an issue with Windows Upgrades making PE not starting due to the file DSOUND.dll. If this fix does not work, please re-install DirectX.
• Enhanced the synch of avatar and creature movement between client and server.

• Fixed an issue some participants had accessing the final stage in the withdrawal process.

• Fixed a latency issue some participants had when accessing PE using a 56k modem.

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.

• 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.

• Fixed an issue with "gluefeet" when moving on rolling terrain.
• Updated accuracy synch between server and client

ixed an issue with "Corrupt Paladin arm-guards" in the loot. The correct armor will be found in the storage terminal.

• 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.

VU 5.5 Content List

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 in an instant, upgrade avatar status within the Soc, or punish the bad apples immediately.

More info about the society functions is available inthe 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 accidentally released 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 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 to 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, along with non-stackable items of all types found within the zone.
The trade terminals supply an anti-toxic shot that allows human to 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 creatures 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 snablesnots seems to have caught 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 themselves 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.

The items looted from creatures while in the new PvP zone are not lootable by other avatars when killed. Stackable items you bring into the zone work as described above in the document. This will be fixed shortly.

• Fixed an issue where ghosts could pick up oil drums.
• Updated old disbanded society members not being able to join or create a new society.

• Corrected an issue where an avatar had difficulty picking up items from the world
• Fixed a potential issue when getting killed while lying down.

• CTD issues fixed
• PvP Trade upgraded
• Fixed an issue with the pier by the hangars NW by Zeus
• Fixed an texture issue with the snablesnot skin textures
• Updated avatar name showing in main chat

• Bombs and probes are now pickable by all players if not activated within 5 minutes
• Fixed an issue with a misplaced auctioneer
• Disabled the 'Most PED' leaderboard in the society terminal
• Disabled the robot hazard alarm

• Issues with decoys fixed
• Fixed an issue with the Drop confirm interface

• Issues with avatar creation fixed
• The Umbranoid mutants finally received their clothes back from the dry cleaners. ,-)

• Issues with invisible creatures fixed

• Applied a fix to creature behaviour while in groups
• Fixed an issue with the Shopkeeper telepads
• Updated the sound engine with a CTD-fix

• Fixed an issue with the Shopkeeper getting eaten by the wildlife

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.

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 can 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.

Several minor updates has been applied to PE VU 5.6 the last few days. Some of the issues corrected are:

• New - General stability upgrades
• New - Double the item limit allowed in estates.
• New - Shopkeeper issues updated
• Laser sight alignment updated
• The Allophyl and Snablesnot is now much easier to loot
• The Allophyl has received its skin once again
• Ghosts may no longer pick up stuff
• Some graphics issues in the Society and Mentor interface fixed
• Fixed the use of ALT+TAB and other keyboard key usage
• Corrected a pesky server crash issue
• Updated the login server to accept participants with more eagerness
• Miscellaneous items got polished (like getting the correct description, etc.)
• And many of other minor issues...

A clairifaction about the disciples - a disciple is deemed finished once at least one of the skill levels is attained.

The Cache system (in the Options interface) handles how graphics, models and textures are cached (stored for easy and fast access to the client). This affects the speed while manipulating the inventory, as well as when meeting creatures and other avatars. Once the graphics has streamed from the hard drive it is kept in RAM, allowing for smoother operations. The slider is set dynamically by Project Entropia at start up, depending on your system memory. Up to 1 Gb RAM is used for cache. If you want to allocate more, please move the slider more to the right, in the red area. Beware, that setting the slider too high will result in less performance, as a lack of RAM means the computer slows down as the hard drive is used as virtual RAM.

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.

• NEW: The Firestorm chips can be put in the auction.
• NEW: Update to the Shopkeepers, enhancing performance and removed annoying glitches.
• NEW: The Pixie armor now have correct name and description.
• NEW: Visual update to the hangars, including the previously hard-to-walk-in stairs.
• NEW: The Standard Compressor blueprint updated.
• NEW: Massive amount of technical fixes, including CTD elimination, performance, upgrades and added verification in the PE Transaction Center and when you create an account.
• General stability upgrades
• Fixed an issue with targeting - including creatures. This will make it easier looting dead MOBs.
• Avatars and MOB's should no longer be invisible.
• Removed Storage boxes and Orange paint from the Trade Terminal. Boxes will be made craftable in a few weeks, and paints will be found as loot to a greater degree than before.
• Enhanced the probability of acquiring items instead of PED's while looting.
• You may no longer place general items in a space ship. Items already placed in such way will be located in each individual owner's storage facility.
• Fixed the decoys to no longer scare off the creatures.

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.

• Added sounds to PvP Trade, as well as minor tweaks to usability
• Added Map interface updates, including the removal of "screen-like" noise due to feedback from the vibrant PE community, as well as added a "memory" function, meaning the interface now remembers its previous selections and position on the screen until logout.
• Better crash analysis system for the client.

The Amethera continent is live!
The all new continent of Amethera is released! The planet Calypso’s second continent is available for exploration. The land contains never before seen creatures, threats, plants, and trees. The area of the continent is roughly three times size of the old Eudoria continent. This addition brings another great location to the Project Entropia experience, together with the Crystal Palace Space Station released earlier this year.

The first real virtual land grab!
The first real virtual land grab event will commence on the new Amethera continent! Those avatars meeting the skill requirements or who have an estate will be able to travel to Amethera and take part of the land grab. The land grab means that a society will battle for the control of a land area, on which they can set taxation on and later improve to make it better.

The preliminary rules and regulations of the land grab is available here.

Dynamic lights
A system for dynamic lighting implemented at indoor areas. Various light sources, like lamps or energy weapons, will now emit light. This creates a much more immersive experience.

Teaching system
A system for transferring skill levels between avatars is introduced. The system works with skill implants which functions as skill holders. The system dynamically handles how the advanced skill system in Project Entropia works, and shows the results when checking out an active skill implant.

Creature AI
The AI for the Project Entropia creatures is completely rewritten, allowing for more elaborate behaviors. In this VU we focus on the basic activities, while slowly evolving the creatures with group behavior and the like.

Speed change and synch enhancement
The general speed of movement is somewhat lowered, together with an improved synchronization. This is to allow for a more smooth experience and making the synch between client and server better. It reduces the bandwidth use, suggesting a better feel while partaking. Of course many of the creatures also have their movement rate reduced as well. Damage is lowered on some critters. Melee weapons will work better. The general experience in PvP fights is enhanced. This also creates a good foundation for the future vehicle system.

Bleaching
A new attachment for the color tool is available, allowing for the removal of colors from colored clothes. Note that it only works on clothes colored after the application of VU 6.1.

Mannequins and shopkeepers
Shopkeepers, and the new mannequins, can now be dressed and equipped. Just drag the items or clothes you wish to add to the mannequin or shopkeeper. To remove items or clothes, just drag it from them. All shopkeepers (old as well as new) and mannequins only have their undies from.

Increase of characters on lots
Depending on the size of a lot, you may now place more than one shopkeeper or mannequin to an outdoor lot.

Loot and creatures
The loot on creatures is rebalanced. The general loot balance is increased, meaning the loot will be somewhat higher after the VU. It is common that creature doesn’t carry any loot after this update. However, when loot is found the value is often a lot higher and will include items more often than before.

Creatures removed when looting
When a creature is looted, it disappears almost instantly.

New creatures
A dozen or so new creatures have been added to Project Entropia. These will be found mainly on the Amethera continent, and they pack a mean punch. Reports of a behemoth monster has been circulating as well…

Creature rebalanced
A lot of the creatures are somewhat changed, in regards to speed, damage done, behavior, etc. Some are fiercer, while some are whimpier.

Increased stack sizes
The max number of items per item stack is increased, most notable when concerning ammo packs and PED stacks - a single ammo stack now contains a maximum of 1,000,000 shots, while a PED stack contains 10,000 PEDs. Stacks containing more than 999 units will now show the abbreviation “k” and “M” for “kilo” (a thousand), and “Mega” (a million), in the stack icon.

Ammo in Trade Terminal
Updated the max ammo stack size in the Trade Terminal to 10,000 shots per unit.

Chat activated emotes
You can now activate a number of emote gestures and action from the main chat. You activate an emote by typing “/em emotename”, where emotename can be “giggle” or “movealong”. Dances and postures are not activated this way yet.

More furniture
New pieces of furniture added, among the lot is fireplaces and candles suitable for romantic encounters.

New market places
Added more market places to Hadesheim and the Crystal Palace Space Station.

Space flight and hangar updates
Numerous issues with the hangars, space flight and ownership transfers fixed.

Sweating modified
A single creature now has a definite number of vibrant sweat available.

New weapons
New weapons added.

New armor sets
Armor sets added.

New melee weapon
The whip is added to the range of melee weapons. Some claim it can be used for something else…?

Updates to the Society function
An applicant can now see a list of the current Socs s/he has applied to. You can see land areas owned by a society. Society members get shares in the society when the society takes ownership of a land area. A member that is dismissed from a Soc in which s/he has shares is listed as “suspended”, and will still receive income for as long as s/he doesn’t join a new Soc. No other activities are accessible to the suspended member though. A Soc with shareholders cannot be disbanded. The society log system is updated on several counts, mostly associated with land area management. Society members are now shown on the radar.

New minerals added
Some oldies and some new ones added to Amethera.

Blood spatters removed
The blood spatters when hitting creatures is removed. This should enhance client performance. Also, in some countries, the visualization of blood is forbidden. In the future more options will be available on this matter.

New payment options added
You can now transfer money into Project Entropia using pre-paid PED certificates or using direct bank transfers. Info is available in the client, under “Transfer”. The Project Entropia Transaction Center is updated with new functions.

Misc Fixes
At rare instances, the damage received when being in a yellow sulphur lake would stay on the avatar, regardless of action - even after revival. This should not happen anymore. An issue making a female avatar in sexy pose that chatted looking “bent” is now fixed. If you chose to lie down while jumping, things could get strange. This is fixed.

Spelling errors
Several spelling errors fixed. If you find more, please file a support case about it.

KNOWN ISSUES

• If you are selling or buying an estate, make sure no activated and deployed shopkeepers and/or mannequins are present. They must be traded seperatly in a trade between the avatars. Else they may stop work.
• The PED Card have issues when removing PECs.
• You cannot refine any of the new minerals.
• Some creatures will have speed and damage rebalanced.
• 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 stock. If you have stock certificates from the time they were available, and want to discuss the matter, please contact the Project Entropia support.
• You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

• Empty generic Skill Implants may be added to auction
• Creature AI updates in regards to target selection and evaluation
• Some graphics update in vegetation
• Corrected names and descriptions on a few blueprints
• Fixed so when a Support Case is updated, the participants once again receives an email notification
• Slight rebalance in loots
• ---Previous fixes---
• The Skill Implant description got an additional update
• Added fixes to synch between server and client
• Updated loot procedures
• Optimized client performance
• Added a dialogue confirm box when extracting skills

Teaming updates
Teaming is massively updated. Here comes a list of features.

• A team can now consist of twelve members.
• A team is created by clicking on the Team button in the row in the main interface.
• While it is possible to have a one-man team, loot cannot be acquired under such circumstances. The team must be at least two members strong for looting to work.
• Loot distribution added. This means that when a team leader creates a team, he also chooses a set of rules that determine how team loot is distributed between the team members. Once these rules are confirmed they cannot be changed. If changes to the rules set are needed the team must be disbanded and a new team must be created. This is to ensure that once the rules are set, the team leased will not be able to change the conditions of the teaming activity without the consent of the team members. The various loot distribution rules are:
  • Item Distribution
  • Damage Decides Order: The team member who does the most damage receives the highest valued item (if present) in the loot, the member who did the second highest damage receives the second highest valued item (if present), etc.
  • Leader Takes All: The team leader always receives all items found.
  • Most Damage Wins All: The team member who does the most damage receives all the items present in a loot.
  • Queue: The first found item is given to the topmost team member, the next found item is given to the second member, etc, going through the roster of members. The queue position is saved every time looting occurs.
  • Random: Any item present in a loot is randomly distributed to a random team member.
  • Money Distribution
  • Damage Determines: Any PED and/or PEC found is divided among the team members, in accordance to the damage each member did.
  • Equal: Any PED and/or PEC found is divided as equally as possible among all team members.
• All team members can look at the rules by clicking the team button at any time. If the rules are not to your liking, we suggest you leave the team.
• In the event a member disconnects from Project Entropia, he is still a part of the team for a period of five minutes. Team members kicked from the team does not have this grace period. A disconnected team member will continue to receive loot, if he, according to the team rule set is entitled to receive any. The member will however not see any loot window or text feedback concerning this. The team member will simply find the items/PED’s looted during his absence placed directly in his inventory.
• A team member will receive loot regardless of distance. This even works over continents!
• If the team leader quits the team, the team is automatically disbanded.

Hall of Fame updates
The Hall of Fame has been updated, with new looks and functions. Some of the new features include:

• Entries in the HoF list now show to which society an avatar belongs to at the time of the HoF-event.
• The top 25 avatars is shown instead of top 15.
• The mining section will now present the correct mineral found, instead of sometimes showing “Unknown”.
• When manufacturing items, the manufactured item name is shown in the entry instead of the just the category shown prior to the update.
• The previous “PK Streak” is back, including an All time high and a 24h version. This is now called “Killing Spree”.
• A loot must contain a minimum value of 50 PED to be added to the HoF list, if the value is above the current lowest entry. For Killing Spree, the minimum is ten different avatars.
• Please note that the HoF entries are not updated in absolute real time. This means the HoF list may, at rare times, appear to have different entries when two different avatars look at the list at the same time. Any such difference is updated within an hour at the most.

Share owners
All avatars owning shares from the time the Project Entropia Exchange was in operation will have their shares reimbursed at twice the purchase sum. The shares are then removed from Project Entropia. The Exchange is closed but may be reopened in a later VU.

Visuals of clothes and armor
When you drop clothes and armor on the ground, or on a shelf, they look much better than before.

Updates to visual interface styles
The overall feel in the dialogue boxes and interface is updated to a more coherent style and look.

Updated looks on armor
The Chronicle, Vain, Sentinel, and Supremacy armor, among others, have added details and looks.

Chat updates
If you type “/?” in the chat you will get help info about shortcuts. You can now send messages directly to the team (if present) by adding “/t” or “/team” before your message. The same goes for society messages, where the prefix is either “/s” or “/soc”.

More furniture
New pieces of furniture added, including gothic looking stuff and shelves.

New weapons
New weapons added, especially as loot on the Amethera continent.

New armor sets
Armor sets added.

Added confirm to Mentor
Now you need to confirm the kicking of a disciple before it happens.

Server backbone updates
A lot of changes to the server system has been made, both with software and hardware. It is our continuous strive in bringing you better stability and performance.

Fixed avatar synch issues
Some issues showing avatars running on the spot and similar things updated.

Fixed an issue with Map updates
The map interface should now show all locations, including the unsafe (PvP) ones.

Fixed an issue with Society tax
You sometime couldn’t see the land tax using the Society terminal (using the land area marker worked though). This is fixed.

Fixed an issue with Society attitudes
You should be able to once again change your official standing towards other societies.

Fixed an issue with death teleportation
If you pressed “No” in the interface, you no longer have to wait 60 seconds before pressing “T”.

KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES

All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.

If you are selling or buying an estate, make sure no activated and deployed shopkeepers and/or mannequins are present. They must be traded separately in a trade between the avatars. Else they may stop working.

The PED Card has issues when removing PECs.

You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

The HoF shows old All time high hunting entries as "unknown" with regards to creature killed.

Auction updates
The auction has received several updates;

• A “Last Calls” section added, where offers that are close to expiring are shown. A good place for making last minute bargains.
• The number of items a single seller may put in the auction is changed to 15, from the old number of five.
• Split the mineral section into subsections, and every mineral type receives a heading. So if you look for iron, you select the “Iron” section to see all iron offers.
• Changed so that feedback messages from auction (like item sold, bids returned, etc) comes in dialogue boxes, instead of lines in the chat area. This will reduce the risk of missing vital information.

Public houses
The owner of an estate may now select to make his or her property public, using the Estate terminal. This means anyone may enter the estate, and have a look around.

Treasure Island open
The auction for Treasure Island on the Amethera continent is progressing. Now the area and buildings are opened up for public viewing and inspection. The Treasure Island is expected to be a center hub of communication, commerce, and logistics.

Loot rebalance for tougher creatures
Higher-level creatures have received a loot rebalance, meaning they carry loot more often.

New items
Various items added.

Graphics update
Some areas in Project Entropia have received enhanced graphics.

Fixed an issue with PvP trading
Carried weight now is calculated correctly on both parties involved in a PvP trade.

Fixed target boxes
Several creature target boxes have been updated to make it easier to hit and loot the creature.

Fixed issue with decayed bleaching attachment
A bleaching attachment could in some instances be used even when it was decayed to zero value. This is fixed.

Fixed creature animation
Some creatures had the wrong animations showing while walking. This is corrected.

Fixed health bar mismatch
Sometimes the health bar on a creature did not update correctly from the server to the client. This is fixed.

KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES

All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.

The PED Card has issues when removing PECs.

You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

The client shows the carried weight wrongly. It is just a visual issue, and does not affect your movement abilities.

Mindforce updates
A new area of Mindforce has been added to Project Entropia - teleportation.

Ordinary Mindforce teleportation allows the avatar to move a certain distance from the point he or she is located. Higher-level Mindforce powers will also allow the avatar to move to an owned estate on the same continent.

Wormhole Mindforce teleportation lets the teleporting avatar open a wormhole to a friend. This wormhole is opened for a brief period of time and allows for an unlimited number of people to venture through.

Fixed issues with crafting lockups
Some times the progress bar while crafting got stuck, and the only option was to log off Project Entropia. This issue should not happen again.

Fixed issues with globals
In some rare instances the chat message when someone found a loot worth more than 50 PED didn’t show. This is fixed.

KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES

All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.

The PED Card has issues when removing PECs.

You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

New Navigation backbone
There are several ways of performing actions in Project Entropia. An action can be anything from moving the avatar to using items.

Help screen
To get a default view of the keyboard and mouse settings, please press the ‘H’ key on your keyboard.

Aim/Cursor modes
There are two general modes in Project Entropia - Aim mode and Cursor mode. In Aim mode, moving the mouse changes the view direction. In Cursor mode, when you move the mouse, you move a cursor around on the screen. In order to click on items and buttons, you need to be in Cursor mode. To change mode, press the Spacebar key.

Options
Pressing the ‘O’ key will open up the Options interface, in which you can assign various keys for various actions. You can select other settings as well. Everyone who partakes in Project Entropia has the same default key layout.

QuickBar
The QuickBar is the main quick access interaction tool in Project Entropia. There are nine bars available, each with twelve slots. These slots are generic and you may assign a multitude of actions to them. These actions are visualized by icons. You activate an icon by either left-clicking on it, or pressing the corresponding key on your keyboard.

Each slot can be assigned an action or item:

• To assign an action to a slot, open the Action Book (default key X) and drag the action to to the slot.
• To assign an item to a slot, open the Inventory (default key I) and drag the item to to the slot (Note: only items that can be held in your hands can be used in the QuickBar).

Some examples:

• Your avatar holds nothing in his or her hands. You click on a rifle icon in the QuickBar and the avatar equips the rifle. If you click the rifle icon again, you will fire the now readied rifle.
• You click the run icon. Your avatar begins running straight ahead, until you influence the movement.

The nine QuickBars can be cycled using the arrows at the end on the bar. You can also access them using the keyboard - using the F1 to F9 key. You can access each slot in a bar by using the keyboard keys beginning with 1 and the next eleven keys to the left. Note - if you want to invert this, just click the ‘F’ icon in a QuickBar. If inverted, you cycle bars using the 1-9 keys and you access the slots using the F1 to F12 keys.

Holding the cursor still over an icon in the QuickBar will show a tooltip with the name of the action or item.

Action Book
The Action Book is a collection of all available action icons you can use, from movement, item manipulation, to emotes. You can use the actions in Book directly, by clicking on the icons, but it is often easier to drag the icons you want to use to a QuickBar slot.

Inventory items
Inventory items can be dragged to a QuickBar slot. Left-clicking on an item icon will equip the item, if not already equipped - then it will be used instead. If you right-click on an item in a slot, you will receive its ‘Items Info’.

Status bars
All creatures, avatars and interactive objects in Project Entropia have a shortcut, called a Status bar. A status bar is created when you left-click and hold down, and drag, the mouse button over an eligible target. A small floating Status bar is then formed, which you can move around the screen. You can choose to interact with the target of the Status bar by clicking on it directly.

Some examples

• You have a Status bar of a Storage facility on your screen. You click on the Status bar and thus selecting it, the next click will move your avatar to the Storage facility and when in front of it opens it.
• You have a Snablesnot Status bar created. You click on it with a held ranged weapon. You will automatically align yourself to the Snablesnot and fire when in range. If the weapon was a melee type, you would move towards the Snablesnot and then attack. When the Snablesnot is killed, you can loot it using the Status bar as well.

Status bars are floating and can be moved around on the screen. If you move Status bar close to one another, they will ‘snap’ together, creating larger blocks of Status bars.

Movement
Default movement in Project Entropia is through the steering keys 'Q', 'W', 'A', 'S' and 'D' and using the mouse to move the screen.

As an alternative way of navigating the virtual universe, you can in cursor mode click on the terrain. The former auto-run function accessed with '3' is now replaced with a double click on a spot in the terrain and your avatar will now run there, or if you click in the sky it will run forever in that direction.

Targeting and selecting
Aiming on or holding the mouse over a creature or object will target it. A frame will be shown around the target with its name and health status. Left clicking on a targeted creature or interactive object will make it your selected target and you can now perform actions on the target. If you initiate an action but has no target selected, you will be prompted to do so. If you want to target yourself as an override (useful e g when using a Fast Aid Pack in combat) you press the ‘ALT’ keyboard key. You can also click on your name in the main interface.

Mouse scroll wheel
The mouse scroll wheel is used to zoom. If scrolled back, the camera will move behind the avatar, and scrolling forward will set the camera in the eye level of the avatar. If the avatar has a held weapon with a scope, scrolling forward from eye level will zoom the scope.

Mixed additional notes

• The default navigation setting is the old pre-VU 7.0 way. You need to access the Project Entropia Options (key ‘O’) to enable the updated methods of navigation.
• Running with a held item in a ready state reduces your movement speed somewhat.
• Remember that the ALT key will target yourself - useful when using Fast Aid Packs for instance.
• Right-clicking and holding down the mouse button will open up a context menu with options and actions.
• Note that you will operate a held item if you select the icon for that item, i.e. a weapon will fire.
• To unequip a held item, using the QuickBar, you need to use the ‘Unequip’ icon. If you are in Cursor mode and press and hold down the mouse scroll wheel, while moving your mouse, you will move the camera around.

KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES

The Action book may disappear. It will be fixed in a patch on the 26th of Jan.

The option settings gets reset from time to time. This will be fixed in a patch on the 26th of Jan.

If you have an item in your hands while accessing a manufacturing machine, your avatar will disappear in your inventory. This is a visual glitch only.

All tailored clothes shown as “Uncolored” in the auction, even if they are colored.

The PED Card has issues when removing PECs.

You can’t repair an item with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

Project Entropia VU 7.0 has been applied and PE is up and running. Please read the Content list and read the Known issues before filing support cases.

Update: A miniupdate has been applied to VU 7.0. The major fixes/changes are:

• Problems while swimming
• Fixed a crash issue
• Changed Right Mouse Button default setting to not firing when no target is present while in Aim mode.

• VU 7.0 Content List

• Pre-VU 7.0 configuration

Mindforce updates
A new area of Mindforce has been added to Project Entropia - Resurrection.

The public Federal authority has supplied Calypso with a limited amount of portable resurrection technology in the form of Mindforce power chips. The chips are built using non-replicable robot technology reverse-engineered from robot wreck findings. The shipment of the new weapon against the robot menace was however intercepted in space by automated Devastator class strike robot ships before the security grid on the Exodus Space Station had time to kick in. The Federal Military Cargo carrier crash-landed somewhere on the Amethera continent, and when the dispatched search and rescue force arrived, the site was already scrounged for every piece of equipment there. An initial analysis show traces of robots at the crash site, suggesting that the machines reclaimed the weapon the humans were to use against them.

This setback has initiated several courses of action. First, the chips need to be recovered, before the robots destroy or use them for their evil purposes. Second, more robot parts are needed to supply human researchers with basic materials to create more chips using this cutting edge technology. Third, the Federal Government has acknowledged the need for on-site located support, and talks about establishing a permanent research base on Calypso have been initiated.

Revival changes
When you die you use old and proven revival technology to rebuild your body around your soul essence. The revival technology is reliable with a near 100% success rate, however, it consumes vast amounts of energy and the machines are impossible to miniaturize efficiently. The revival terminals supplied by the Federal Empire are public and free to use.

The instant you die, you will be given two options. Either you are teleported to a nearby revival terminal and get revived automatically. Or you stay in place. If you stay, you can wait until a Mindforcer Biotropian with resurrection capabilities are nearby. Or you can use a Personal Revival Terminal, if a friend drops one near your death location for you to operate.

Ghosts and ghost talk
The ghost as it appeared before this release is removed. A dead avatar may chat, but only those proficient in communicating with the dead will be able to make any sense out of the voice of the afterlife.

Chat system
The Project Entropia chat system is overhauled and updated. Now you will have chat access from the instant you login. This has eliminated many of the annoyances with missing chat messages, team chat issues, etc.

Friend confirmation
In order to reduce abuse and protect the integrity within the virtual universe, an avatar may now only add another avatar as friend if the target avatar confirms the action.

Amethera enhancements
The Federal Empire has begun supplying Amethera with basic facilities, after the situation is deemed “secure enough”, now after the wave of colonizers have re-taken a large area of the continent.

Personalized nicknames used globally
A participant may change an entry on his or her Friends list, to a name of choice. That name will be used in every communication with the said person - in PM’s, main chat, etc, for increased coherency.

PED Card update
The PED Card is now allowing for removal of PEC’s without the need of having the same amount of PED’s stored.

Auction updates
The auction now accepts a number of new items, including higher-level armor blueprints.

Professional standings
Sometimes the avatar’s professional standing got messed up. The correct rank should now always be shown.

Auto-logoff system implemented
In order to counter meaningless idling on the servers, an avatar is logged off after ten minutes of inactivity.

HoF message fix
Sometimes a Hall of Fame chat message didn’t show, this is corrected.

Better client/server creature health synch
The health bar on creatures will now update more accurately.

Manufacturing fix
Fixed an issue that could hang the client while manufacturing.

Client crash fix
A client crash issue corrected. Those participating in Project Entropia with their sound turned off should try to turn it on again, to see if they still have crash issues.

Streamlined animation
Several animations have been updated to give a more polished look.

KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES

Shopkeepers can become corrupted when they reach low condition. An update for this is on its way.

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.

VU 7.1 has been updated. The following areas are affected.

• Update: PED Card. Now you can withdraw up to 10 000 PED or 1000 PEC in each transaction, given that you have the amount available on the Card.
• Update: Manufacturing skills and blueprint Quality Rating. An unbalance in the relationship between blueprint QR and Skill levels while manufacturing has been corrected.
• Update: Death in toxic area. Fixed an issue while logging in as dead when in the toxic area (“PvP 3”).
• Update: Items. The Longu claw and Tantardion horn items could cause a client crash - this is fixed.

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.

All interior and balcony doors have been removed from the apartments, in order to increase performance while maneuvering in the area. The doors out to the main hall with the televator are still in place.

Also, the so called "Beta Apartments" has been dispatched to the respective new owners. Enjoy!

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.

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…

Rader 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.

Some areas have been updated in VU 7.4

• Skill experience gains tweaked, for example within the mining field. This has been done after analyzing statistics and the highly valued feedback from our intrested community.
• The graduation level for disciples has been altered for some skills, given that skill experience gain is changed.
• The amount of common dung and fruits is increased, especially on the Amethera continent.

Also, we are investigating the creature density in some areas, mainly those that are mineral rich, to allow for dedicated mining operation without the need of being armed to the teeth.

Information: As a note about the skill experience system in VU 7.4; the choice of equipment will also influence the experience received.

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.
• Some of the beauty materials have faulty descriptions concerning what profession it belongs to.

The following issues have been addressed in the VU 7.5.1 update.

• Updated Hadesheim to eliminate a crash.
• Both client and server crash fixes applied.
• Fixed an issue where you could use certain tools after they reached 10% condition.
• Increased the visual range of Claim Rods to 150 meters.
• Fixed a Toxic Area ("PvP3") death issue.
• Fixed an issue which could render avatars invisible on other participant's clients by using shoes with various sole thickness.
• Several item descriptions have been updated.
• The Project Entropia Conditions of Use has been updated.

In today's release, the robot space craft system has been updated.

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 1x0 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.

An update has been applied to Project Entropia.

• Fixed an visual issue when combining a coat and a harness.
• Empty blueprints books now can be sold in the Trade Terminal.
• Fixed the faulty look on the Mechanical equipment blueprints.
• Changed so auction messages are visible while in the auction interface.
• The mining clusters are re-adjusted to allow for much more resource sites with a greater average value (please note that the old-Pre-VU deposit sizes no longer are the same, meaning that a "Medium" today does not necessarily equal a "Medium" prior to the VU 7.6. The size at a specific level holds more minerals than before -- a "Poor" of today contain more minerals than a "Poor" before the VU).
• Added "Max Efficiency" statistic onto mining tools.
• Fixed an issue with the item value being too low when dropping the item, allowing for more items to be dropped.
• Fixed a range issue with the Mindforce Focus implant.
• Reduced the deterioration values on tailoring refiners a great deal.
• Fixed an issue where the bleaching attachment deteriorated when you colored an item.
• Reduced the resource claim time from three seconds to one second.
• Several stability issues corrected.

• Client stability increased.
• Adjusted experience gain to give bonus depending on the rarity of the resource.
• Fixed the “???” text when finding a beacon and robot space ship.
• Fixed an issue with apartments and unpaid rent.
• Fixed a rare instance where your life state was different between client and server.
• It is now again possible to hunt fish with ranged weapons.
• Fixed an invisibility issue with the Metallic bone replacement.
• Fixed the red text when you heal others into green text.
• Fixed and issue where the powerfist could deteriorate when you struck the air.
• Updated the scanner feedback.
• Shopkeepers can always be dropped, regardless of TT value.
• The mutant confusion regarding what to call their dead is solved.
• Fixed the visual appearance of the Basic structure.
• The Tripudion is no longer crippled.
• Various issues with the Mannequin is corrected.
• Blueprints now stay put in the Equipment blueprint book when you use the Storage facility.

Applied an update that fixed an issue which allowed for adding residues to stackable item manufacturing. Residues can only be used together with non-stackable items (items that have a condition bar).

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.

• 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.

• 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.

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, respect is high enough and you have the required taming skills for the animal 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.

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.

• The few holes in Club NEVERDIE have been fixed.
• The tailors in Hadesheim are sold out and no new shipments are expected.
• The PvP Trade Chat/Private Chat issue has been fixed.
• Increased quality of certain sounds.

• Fixed a faulty trick with the Exarosaur
• Minor visual fixes to Club NEVERDIE
• Fixed animation optimization on creatures.
• Made sure the client updates the amount section in the repair terminal.
• Fixed an issue where you could get blocked when trying to refuel a spacecraft.

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 the 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 maintenance fees, 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 countdown.

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. These include 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 has 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 has 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.

• The restoration of the loot radius.
• The correction of a difficulty experienced when furnishing certain shops.
• The restoration of the "Rancher" hat appearance.

• Shops update, including
  • The fee is calculated on the markup (the "+XX" part of "TT+XX" format).
  • The actual percentage value increased to 5% (fixed at first, in a later VU it will be dynamically set by the land owner).
  • The minimum price a shop owner can set on any item is "TT+1".
• The Exorsaur now shows tricks as expected.
• The Scaborea Dominant are once again visible.

• Added a system to prevent avatar name impersonation.
• Fixed a major lag causing issue.
• Fixed Mindforce teleportation animation lockup.
• The risk of an item getting "lost" in the Quick bar reduced (known as the "Missing FAP" issue).

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.

Please view the About section of this website for more information about the Event System.

Advertising
The first phase of the Ad System has also 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 are made up of Sequences, and each Ad 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.

Please view the About section of this website for more information about the Ad System.

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.

VU 8.2 has been updated twice and the current version is VU 8.2.2. An additional update is expected very soon.

Some of the areas addressed by the updates are:

• Decreased performance over time due to a general chat bug.
• Displayed avatar name.
• Problems connecting to team and society chat channels.
• Grouping and scrolling in the Friends list.
• Several minor fixes/clarifications to the Event System.
• Fixed issue with avatar name display (could show "???")
• The disciple window has been made clearer.

Event System Rules Update
28 Mar 2006

First: An issue in the Event System has been corrected. The fallout from this correction is that all registrations for all events must be repeated. The Registration fees paid have been returned to the avatars affected. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Second: If an event is created, and no activity has occurred during the Scheduled time frame specified, the Prize Item(s) will be moved to an Official MindArk Investigator for observation. The Event Promoter should then contact MindArk Support.

Third: All Events created with faulty rules (hunting events in creature less areas or hunting events with no weapons allowed) have been cancelled. All funds/items have been returned (or will be within 24h).

VU 8.2 has been updated twice and the current version is VU 8.2.2. An additional update is expected very soon.

Some of the areas addressed by the updates are:

• Decreased performance over time due to a general chat bug.
• Displayed avatar name.
• Problems connecting to team and society chat channels.
• Grouping and scrolling in the Friends list.
• Several minor fixes/clarifications to the Event System.
• Fixed issue with avatar name display (could show "???")
• The disciple window has been made clearer.

Event System Rules Update
28 Mar 2006

First: An issue in the Event System has been corrected. The fallout from this correction is that all registrations for all events must be repeated. The Registration fees paid have been returned to the avatars affected. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Second: If an event is created, and no activity has occurred during the Scheduled time frame specified, the Prize Item(s) will be moved to an Official MindArk Investigator for observation. The Event Promoter should then contact MindArk Support.

Third: All Events created with faulty rules (hunting events in creature less areas or hunting events with no weapons allowed) have been cancelled. All funds/items have been returned (or will be within 24h).

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. 15600, 19300) 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 60 works from artists such as Mark Kostabi, Mark 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
Added info to Limited Items, that they cannot be repaired.

New Colors
The number of colors available in the Entropia Universe has been doubled.

Fixes
Several issues have been resolved with this release including the running issue that affected avatars involved in Private chat. A difference in action performance between the Action Book and the Quick Bar has also been repaired. An issue 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.

• Certain avatars that appeared gaunt after VU 8.3 have now had their complexion restored.
• A new option for 1024x768 widescreen has been added to the Client Loader.
• The Nymphtown/New Oxford teleport link has been brought back online.
• Residue can now be sold in the Auction.
• All paint colors can now be sold in the Auction.
• The Active Event window is now available for all event participants, regardless of when you log into the event. Prize items can now also be seen from the Active Event UI.
• The 'previous' and 'next' buttons in the Auction can now be used to go from the first page to last and from last to first.
• Walking in mid-air in certain New Oxford locations has been revoked.
• Reserved MindArk times in the Event System have been altered to display UTC time.
• The Enter key has been enabled again for easy access when logging in with the Gold Card.

The Entropia Universe has been updated with VU 8.3.2. Some of the enhancements implemented are:

• Anti Aliasing & Graphics

An anti aliasing graphics improvement to the Entropia Universe has softened some of the harder edged graphics in the virtual universe.

• Tailoring

The female pleated coats have been adjusted for a better fit.

• Technical Updates

A range of technical updates have been implemented for better functionality of the Entropia Universe.

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.

In order to allow for this new feature in the Entropia Universe, your firewall must allow connection to an external media server operated by the Asteroid owner.

Port 554 should be opened for TCP outgoing connections.

No details concerning your Entropia Universe account will be disclosed by connecting to the media server.

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 Cash Cards
The Entropia Universe Gold Card and Entropia Universe Cash 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 and the event system has been enhanced to more closely adhere to the set rules.

The Entropia Universe has been updated with VU 8.4.1. The following enhancements (amongst others) have been implemented:

• A known issue with avatar hair styles has been adjusted
• The client software now more accurately and timely shows the current ammunition and deterioration levels supplied from the server

• The development team has located and squashed a bug, which under exceptional circumstances, could temporarily misinterpret decay values. Although often rectified by relogging into the Entropia Universe again, the misleading values disturbed the In-World enjoyment of some participants. We apologize for this inconvenience.
• Even though this visual display bug affected the Client, the integrity of our server systems remained intact, and ensures that no participant will bear any loss as a result. MindArk will continue to maintain the level of quality that we, and our community, expect of the Entropia Universe.

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.

• Fixes to the Repair Terminal.
• New condition for trapped creatures.
• Stuck object icon fix.

_From entropiauniverse.com news section: (link) _

21 Aug 2006

Celebrating our involvement in the Swedish business delegation travelling to Shanghai for the arrival of the Swedish Ship Götheborg on the 29th of August, MindArk have released a mini-update that simply includes a virtual version of the majestic old-world ship in the waters south-east of New Oxford.

The Shanghai conference on the the 30th of August will involve a presentation of the Entropia Universe alongside other leading Swedish companies like Ericsson and Volvo.

While many of us can't be there to share the moment, we can now enjoy a beautiful replica of the Götheborg in the calm waters outside New Oxford.

• Difficulties in saving settings for Desktop Icons, Action Sets and Keyboard Maps have been reduced.
• Creature AI has been improved to reduce 'undamageable condition' incidents.

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.

Known Issues VU 8.6
19 Sep 2006

Thank you all for the Support Cases that have been filed since the release of VU 8.6, as they have helped us greatly in localizing issues. The following tasks remain top priority and are currently being worked on:

• System calibration has begun with VU 8.6.1, and will continue in the coming days to reduce the lag being experienced.
• Teleporting on CND sometimes causes avatars to fall through the floor.
• Some auctioneers are partly stuck in the ground.
• The lazer sight is missing its red dot.
• Changing tools while using MindForce teleportation causes an avatar to get stuck.

We hope to have these issues resolved as soon as possible. Thanks again for the reports and your patience. Keep an eye on the VU News section for more updates.

• An auto-running problem when using private chat has been fixed.
• Creatures that sometimes shook violently have been cured.
• Creature carcasses are no longer obstacles to movement or weapons firing.
• The Cersumon creature now attacks as usual.
• Flying creatures have regained full health and fly as before.

The Entropia Universe has been updated with VU 8.6.2. Enhancements include:

• A problem with avatars not returning to ready position has been solved.
• Avatars that that didn't move their legs when rotating now do so.
• Difficulties looting creatures in certain areas have been resolved.
• Avatars that logged in and found themselves on roofs have been fixed.
• Strange blue columns that were found on Amethera recently have been removed.

The Entropia Universe has been updated with VU 8.6.3. Enhancements include:

• Work has continued in 8.6.3 to reduce lag and rubber-banding issues.
• The range of the gun turrets on the Asteroid, Crystal Palace and on Land Areas have been reduced to pre VU 8.6 ranges.
• A problem in the event system has been resolved.

Known Issues VU 8.6.3
26 Sep 2006

We are currently working with:

• Continued system calibration to reduce lag and rubber-banding issues.
• Teleporting on CND, which sometimes causes avatars to fall through the floor.
• MindForce being 'interrupted by movement' even though avatar didn't move.

Due to the priority of the above mentioned tasks, other less critical tasks have been moved to future updates. These include:

• Some auctioneers are partly stuck in the ground.
• The lazer sight is missing its red dot.
• Changing tools while using MindForce teleportation causes an avatar to get stuck.

We hope to have these issues resolved as soon as possible. Thanks for your feedback.

05 Oct 2006

Fixed Issues 8.6.4

Issues addressed by the latest update 8.6.4 include:

System calibration of the new Physx engine, in conjunction with AGEIA, has continued to reduce lag and rubber-banding issues.
MindForce issues concerning concentration being 'interrupted by movement' and locked teleport chips.

Optimization work is continuing and we thank you all for your reports.

http://www.entropiauniverse.com/en/rich/5377.html

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.

Known Issue VU 8.7
01 Nov 2006

Incorrect values displayed in Item Info
When weapon and armor attachments have been attached to their respective items, incorrect values are currently being displayed in the blue values column. The orange column values are correct.

This issue is being addressed and we will keep you updated.

02 Nov 2006

VU 8.7.1

Version Update 8.7.1 includes:

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.

http://www.entropiauniverse.com/en/rich/5377.html

The Entropia Universe has been updated with VU 8.7.2. Enhancements include:

• 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

The Entropia Universe has been updated with VU 8.7.3. Enhancements include:

*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.

16 Nov 2006
Version Update 8.7.4
The Entropia Universe has been updated with VU 8.7.4.An issue regarding the auto-stacking of looted ammo has been resolved.

More...

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.

Known Issues 8.8
22 Dec 2006

1. Difficulties attaching second laser sight to weapons combined with scope.
2. Problems with attachments becoming detached after a relog.
3. Delayed sound effects with certain weapons causing the sound to be clipped.
4. Rubberbanding.

Other General Info

Changing Settings
It may take up to 5 minutes for settings to be updated after a change e.g. Professional Standings, Keyboard Mapping etc.

Auction Bid List
The Auction Bid list only displays 25 bids. This is a design change.

Mining
Please note that all deposits are automatically claimed when discovered.

Known Issues
5 Jan 2007

1. Difficulties attaching second laser sight to weapons combined with scope.
2. Problems with attachments becoming detached after a relog.
3. Delayed sound effects with certain weapons - causing sound to be clipped.
4. Rubberbanding.
5. Items becoming invisible in estates. (more info below)
6. Shinook Forest irregularities (more info below)

Estate Issues
Some participants have had problems with Items in their estates becoming invisible on one or more occasions. We understand that this can be quite frustrating and are working to fix this issue as soon as possible. In order to quickly get to the bottom of this problem we need your assistance. We ask any participants that experience problems with invisible Items to contact the Support Dept. immediately, providing us with the address of the estate (don't forget to set the access to public). We are also grateful for all relevant information, like detailed descriptions of the actual circumstances before the problem arose, such as which activities or actions that were being performed etc.

Supernatural Shinook Experiences
Colonists visiting the Shinook Forest district have reported terrain difficulties and unusual supernatural experiences. Investigation teams have sent to look into the reports and we advise colonists to avoid this area until we have more information available.

Version Update 8.8.1
20 Dec 2006

Some problems we were able to address quickly due to well documented feedback from the community.

1. A bug in the auction system causing the 'My Bids' section to display double entries has been fixed.
2. Avatars that began sliding while writing to chat during auto run have been fixed.
3. 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.

More...

Version Update 8.8.2
17 Jan 2007

The Entropia Universe has been updated with VU 8.8.2. Enhancements include:

1. Delayed sound effects with certain weapons have been fixed.
2. Bird sounds when logging in indoors have been corrected.
3. Skill level gains have a new sound effect.
4. Estate terminals that could display incorrect estate information have been fixed.
5. Creature AI has been optimized.
6. Continued optimization of the physics system.

More...

Known Issues 8.8.2
17 Jan 2007

Focus and healing MindForce chips are not working on their owner. We are working on this problem and will have it fixed as soon as possible.

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.

Known Issues VU 8.9
6 Feb 2007

1. The implanting and extracting of skills is currently out of order.
2. Scopes and laser sights are not being displayed properly. They are not lost.

Version Update 8.9.1
8 Feb 2007

The Entropia Universe servers will be temporarily unavailable while we implement VU 8.9.1.

1. Adjustments to Participant Content system.
2. A bug causing avatars to get stuck in stools has been fixed.
3. Team rule 'Looter takes All' working properly.

More...

Entropia Universe VU 8.9.2
13 Feb 2007

The Entropia Universe servers will be temporarily unavailable between:

2007.02.13 14:45 and 2007.02.13 15:15 UTC

while we implment VU 8.9.2, which includes:

1. Space flight is now working correctly again.
2. The different weapon effect colors have been restored.

More...

Upcoming Maintenance
14 Mar 2007

Beginning on Tuesday 27 March 2007 and continuing for 6 - 10 weeks, Entropia Universe server maintenance will be performed:

Every Tuesday at 09:00 UTC for a period of 10 - 15 minutes

This may result in the servers being temporarily unavailable during this period. This necessary maintenance will allow us to keep the Entropia Universe in top condition.

Entropia Universe Mini Update
6 Mar 2007

This mini update was aimed at fixing some minor issues affecting system stability.

Server Park Upgrade: IP Address Confirmation
26 Feb 2007

As part of the server park upgrade, your internet security software may now require that you accept connection to the following addresses:

Entropia Universe: 62.4.93.231, 62.4.93.232, 62.4.93.233, 62.4.93.234

Entropia Universe Website: 62.93.236.11, 62.93.236.12, 62.93.236.13, 62.93.236.14

Please allow these connections.

Server Park Update
26 Feb 2007

The second stage of the Server Park Upgrade has been completed. MindArk are monitoring the system in the event that further calibrations may be necessary.

Server Park Update Continues
23 Feb 2007

The Entropia Universe servers will be temporarily unavailable while we continue the process of upgrading our server park on: Monday, 26 Feb., 07:30 UTC

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Entropia Universe Mini-Update
22 Feb 2007

Crash related problems when visiting shopping malls have been fixed.

Entropia Universe Server Park Update
21 Feb 2007

The first stage of the server park update has been successfully completed. The remainder of the update will be carried out in the coming days. We will keep participants informed of any planned downtime through this Support News section.

Entropia Universe Server Park Upgrade

Due to increased demand from new participants in the Entropia Universe, MindArk PE AB will be upgrading the Entropia Universe server park to the next generation of servers on: Wednesday, 21st Feb. 2007, 08:00 UTC

Temporary disruptions and login difficulties may be experienced during this upgrade, and we thank all participants for their patience while this performance enhancing upgrade is implemented.

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.

Known Issues VU 8.11
20 Mar 2007

1. Certain Items are invisible in the Inventory: Lytarian Dust, Cadet jacket(F), Droplet Skirt (F,C).
2. Stacks showing incorrect amounts in Inventory.
3. PvP irregularities affecting participant experience on Akmuul Island.

Version Update 8.11.1
22 Mar 2007

Entropia Universe update between 10:30 - 11:30 MA Time.

1. Items that were invisible are now visible again: Lytarian Dust, Cadet Jacket(F).
2. Stackables showing incorrect amount in Inventory have been fixed.
3. A minor issue with the Markup Trend in the new Market Value graphs has been corrected.
4. Disappearing Action Set Panel due to resolution change has been corrected.
5. Sick and depressed Umbranoids are fighting fit again.

More...

New Icon Design, 21 Mar 2007
The new icon designs introduced in VU 8.11 have allowed us to come away from time consuming hand drawn icons by automating the process. This allows our graphic artists to concentrate on other more important tasks. Please note that icon appearance depends on the visual quality slider option as well as your graphics card capabilities. Unfortunately, lesser graphics cards will not provide the optimal visual experience.

21 Mar 2007
Todays mini update (circa 11:00 UTC) will fix a bug that made avatars invincible in the new PvP zone introduced in VU 8.11.

23 Mar 2007
The latest Mini Update included:

1. Issues with Scopes have been fixed.
2. Animal leather textures are now visible again.

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.