Everyone has a fighting chance
The Dual Universe blog has been updated with a blog post to detail new ship dynamics and engine designs. All of the most recent changes are based on player feedback from those participating in the pre-alpha gameplay opportunity. “We don’t want a one-size-fits-all ship design that encompasses all atmosphere conditions, high or low altitude, space, etc.” the post reads.
The Dual Universe team has posted a new developer blog to let fans and players know what’s coming in the next build headed to the Live Server in May (hopefully!). Pre-alpha players can look forward to several new features including Scanning & Mining, the “first iteration of Trade mechanics & Market Units, overhauled Piloting Mechanics, and more.
One of the original designers of EVE Online, Hrafnkell Oskarsson, has joined Novaquark and will be working on Dual Universe. While quite different than EVE, Oskarsson will capitalize on a “shared heritage with it” as well as bring his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the company.
Novaquark has announced brand new supporter packs for Dual Universe. This allows fans a chance to support the game through the purchase of the packs and join the community of 10,000 backers from the original fundraising campaign. Participation in the supporter program allows players a chance to access the pre-alpha version of the game to help shape its development going forward. Prices range from $60 to $180, each with its own perks and in-game items.
The Dual Universe team is off to enjoy family and friends for the balance of 2017, but they took a few minutes to put together a great “thank you” video for their community as well as to offer up a bit of a retrospective look back at the year.
Several Novaquark team members have written a lengthy post-mortem look at the plan for and implementation of a KickStarter project to fund Dual Universe. The collaborative effort details the planning stages, adds in a bit about the game, speaks about the KickStarter initiative and beyond.
The Dual Universe team is reminding lollygaggers that the time to purchase a Founder Pack or a Lifetime Subscription to the game is running short. These packages will allow players to gain access to pre-alpha and alpha 1 when the time for launch arrives. The final day to purchase one is September 7th, after which the packages will no longer be available.
Novaquark has announced that the pre-alpha for Dual Universe will be released on September 30th. This marks a critical phase in the game’s development and an important milestone. KickStarter and crowd-funding backers at the Gold Founder level and above will be invited to try out the pre-alpha version. You can still back Dual Universe through September 7th to be included.
Novaquark has announced that it has pulled in private investment funds in the amount of $3.7M that brings the total amount generated to develop Dual Universe to $7.4M. This is great news for the company as it proceeds in development ahead of a Q4 2017 alpha launch.
The latest video developer diary for Dual Universe has been released that announces that the alpha has been delayed to a later point “to include a more complete game and a better experience”. The original plan was for alpha to launch sometime before mid-year.