Everyone has a fighting chance
The Dual Universe site has been updated with a new blog post that shines the light on several graphical improvements coming to the next alpha build in the near future. Among things players can expect are higher resolution displays for planet textures, depth of field and motion blur implementation using a middleware called Yebis, and the addition of volumetric clouds with no impact on performance.
Novaquark devs have started up a new podcast about Dual Universe. The first episode is on YouTube, though it is audio only. During the half hour plus of conversation, the team discusses the past six months of Alpha 1, player created content, the new Montreal studio, the recent 30,000 simulated player demo, and an overview of some new content coming to Alpha 1 in the very near future.
Novaquark is “redefining the meaning of ‘massively multiplayer'” with its recent simulation dropping 30,000 concurrent ‘players’ onto a single Dual Universe planet. Members of the community joined up to “witness this world premier”.
The Dual Universe community was recently challenged by the dev team to create the most awesome ships they could imagine and have they ever come through. The contest was held in December and devs were so pleased with what they saw that a new video has been created to showcase some of the best of the best. “What would sci-fi be without spaceships? Whether it is system-hopping frigates or nimble, planetside fighters, spacecraft give a sci-fi universe its flavor.”
Novaquark, the team behind the ambitious MMO Dual Universe, has announced that it is expanding its operations to Canada. The new office will be located in Montreal, will employ over 50 developers and will be led by former Eidos-Montreal studio lead St�phane D’Astous. As a result of the new studio, production of Dual Universe will be expanded greatly ahead of its planned launch in 2020..
Novaquark is fulfilling one of its biggest KickStarter promises to its backer community. Starting December 20th, the Dual Universe alpha test is open to all of its 11,000 backers. To welcome all players into the current alpha phase, devs will be “kicking off the longest continuous play session to date”. Players will get to take part in alpha testing from December 20th to January 7th and be able to provide feedback to the developers about future updates, issues and feature requests.
Novaquark CEO Jean-Christophe Baillie has taken to the airwaves to show off his pride and joy: Dual Universe. The innovative MMO has been in its first phase of alpha testing since earlier this week and Baillie takes an opportunity to show off all of the game’s features in a new hour-long video.
It’s Alpha launch day in Dual Universe and Novaquark is celebrating the milestone with a brand new trailer. Players will be able to explore, participate in the player-driven market system, check out the first iteration of crafting / harvesting and build to their hearts’ content during alpha testing.
Novaquark has sent word that the Dual Universe Alpha 1 event will kick off on November 29th. All Kickstarter backers will be granted access to Alpha 1 in the coming weeks. Players will be admitted to Alpha 1 in waves based on Kickstarter backer levels. Those who are already involved in testing will automatically be granted access to the alpha. Those backers who joined up after Kickstarter will also be granted access during the test’s initial weeks. In short, keep your eye on your email!
Novaquark has unleashed a brand new roadmap for the development of Dual Universe. The first alpha event is now slated for November 2018, with the game going through further alpha and beta tests on its way to a “second half 2020” release date. There are five major milestones the team is targeting, each with a specific set of objectives and features to be added to the game.