MMOFallout - MindArk Talks Entropia Universe 16th Anniversary

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Those of you who keep tabs on the industry will remember that Entropia Universe turns 16 this year, meaning that not only can the game now drive in most states, but it retains its discount card along with the other long-lasting MMOs. As it goes, I had to know what their secret was. Thankfully MindArk was kind enough to let me chat with their CEO Henrik Nel to answer my numerous questions.

The full interview is below, and once you are finished I highly recommend checking out Entropia Universe for free.

Read the full article on MMOFallout.com
 
hmm interesting...

H: In 2009 we made the change from Gamebryo game engine to Cryengine 2. With that change, we had to re-develop a lot of our systems to adapt with the new game engine. As many of the developers are still around from that time, we still possess the knowledge from that transition which will make another upgrade much smoother. We do actually have a graphical improvement just around the corner which utilizes Cryengine, but unfortunately I can’t go into detail about it just yet.

But currently, we focus a 100% on our PC platform.
 
"We have achieved a level of trust after 16 years..."

are you really sure about that? in my humble opinion it's rather the opposite...
 
"And we have some very interesting content updates coming out this year, with new systems attached"


Wonder what this content could be?
 
There is not much "meat" (just to improve the graphic for this year), but it has been a good interview. :cool:
 
There is not much "meat" (just to improve the graphic for this year), but it has been a good interview. :cool:

Are you kidding me? Improving the graphics its the best stuff they can do at the moment. Let me make u an example, a template of a new ambulimax graphically cool made on maya can be both uploaded in cryengine 2.0 newer cryengine or unity. This make all the graphical update work not wasted even inxase or an engine upgrade.
It is a priority upgrading graphics, they been doin it already since long time, till now mindark policy was to improve graphics with small changes that doesnt get percieved by the player. Now the policy is changing, they are not scared anymore of making big changes like interface and such, this can only mean that the peds ingame are finished and investing in assets can be only done tru depositing.
I have a feelig we will see the new, good looking mob templates ingame very soon.

I believe the entropia 2.0 idea is horrific and pointless. Only talking about it and saying that it could be a possibility is a huge mistake.

Overall it was a good interview except the 2.0 part that should have been a : No, at eu we already reached 16.0 so 2.0 is of the past.
 
Even though there was really nothing ground breaking said in the interview, props to the CEO for at least taking his time to do these. If anything it's more exposure, and that's always a good thing for EU.

I'm liking this CEO more and more. I hope he and his team continue to back up what they say and keep EU their focus. I'm glad he kept some things vague, I like to believe this new team's motto is 'Under promise and over deliver'. Where we've seen so much of the reverse in the past, I don't want to get my hopes up only to see them dashed.

Time will tell...
 
please no graphical updates for 2 reasons

1) my laptop can bearly handle the current graphics engine

2) Updating to cryengine killed off so much of the things most players at the time loved and crushed us into a dark age of turmoil, bug fixes and graphics patches, which (imo) we are only just recovering from. Years of graphics updates without much meaningful content introduction.

Yes PA now looks pretty but VU 10 fundamentally destroyed it. It now might as well not exist at all so what was the point.

My plea: focus on content, not graphics. Focus on developing the RCE and not camera modes.
 
we already have an Android app connected to our systems, which we have had since 2012. With Virtual Tycoon users can craft and trade while on the move.

Can someone remind them that this app hasn't been updated in SIX YEARS?!?!?

I still manage to use it, but barely. It's a buggy mess and there are FAR too many timeouts or log-outs with the inability to log back in right away that this isn't something they should be bragging about. It's just one unlucky OS update away from being completely unusable. If it gets broken completely, I may just stop playing altogether.
 
1) my laptop can bearly handle the current graphics engine

Wood pc much?Did you found your pc while taking your trash out?
I have a 8 year old pc I never changed anything and works with highest graphic options as a charm.
 
please no graphical updates for 2 reasons

1) my laptop can bearly handle the current graphics engine

2) Updating to cryengine killed off so much of the things most players at the time loved and crushed us into a dark age of turmoil, bug fixes and graphics patches, which (imo) we are only just recovering from. Years of graphics updates without much meaningful content introduction.

Yes PA now looks pretty but VU 10 fundamentally destroyed it. It now might as well not exist at all so what was the point.

My plea: focus on content, not graphics. Focus on developing the RCE and not camera modes.

There is something you should understand about Cryengine, the philosophy & design of Crytek was to create a graphical engine for the future, and at the time it was created, CPUs were getting faster and faster, so naturally, they thought that this trend will only continue and CPU clocks will just continue to increase.

But this is not what happened, a sort of 'stability' limit was reached and the best way to go beyond that limit was to engineer computers with multiple CPUs rather than continue to increase speed.

The Cryengine was not designed to efficiently make use of multiple cores. That is why even some of today's computers still don't handle it very well.

There have been some rumors of late that we might see an update to Cryengine so that it will make better use of multiple core computers, that I think would be the most sensible thing that Crytek could do to revive their product.
 
If they upgrade the engine again i really worry that this game will die. I would like to know if they are collecting stats on what kind of settings or hardware users have. Because If my old laptop i'm currently playing on can't handle the update i wont be logging in because i can't afford to buy a new computer or laptop.
 
Think what hes saying is cry2 does not current utilize cpu's produced since like 2008 very well at all. if they updated to something that does handle multicore better it will only improve performance in the same computer your using now.
 
"MMO Fallout: Entropia Universe launched in 2003, which in the gaming industry is basically three lifetimes ago. What is the secret formula that has kept the game running so long?"

no no no, PROJECT entropia launched in 2003. :wise:
The coolest game ever!!!

Then came Entropia Universe...
 
Can't be fishing because they mentioned that in one of the AMA questions



That is not a new system or new content!


Could be space update or maybe plots?? new planet?

I think in AMA they also said plots pushed way back also they have vision for space but nothing soon.
New planet I doubt very much looking what happened to Cyrene. I still wait for that hard launch, but it will probably remain just that 1 server foreva :mad:
 
If they upgrade the engine again i really worry that this game will die..

LOL

Every weeks i see a post who a guy say : don't do that, the game will die !
Oh guys ! Stop to cry before MA start to move. I'm tired to read that all the time.

In fact, this game is still alive, i started in 2015. Ok some players left the game since but other players took the free place.
I read all time the game will die after each major change, but as i see, majority of players are still here and i see new faces all time. I would not stay in a game if i have to play like i was in 2003 or 2010 XD

You want all a better game experience, better loots etc ... The game is not perfect, ok i can admit that but with post like that, i'm pretty sure, plenty potential players leaved or never started the EU experience and that deserve not only the game but all of us.

So stop EU bashing please.

Thanks
 
I think this year its going to be massive improvement's on the SPACE ...MA it didnt mention yet on the questions !

This will be our SURPRISE i think ..
THE SPACE LOOKs so BIG AND EMPTY ..
I feel so Cold'nes when i dont see a PIRAT there trying to loot me .on SPACE :lolup: :lolup:
Because up in space its nothing at the moment ! LOTS OF SHIPS FLYING AROUND STATIONS WITHOUT BEING USE ! Lots of MOBS will come up in space this year i think !

:boxer::boxer:
 
LOL

Every weeks i see a post who a guy say : don't do that, the game will die !
Oh guys ! Stop to cry before MA start to move. I'm tired to read that all the time.

In fact, this game is still alive, i started in 2015. Ok some players left the game since but other players took the free place.
I read all time the game will die after each major change, but as i see, majority of players are still here and i see new faces all time. I would not stay in a game if i have to play like i was in 2003 or 2010 XD

You want all a better game experience, better loots etc ... The game is not perfect, ok i can admit that but with post like that, i'm pretty sure, plenty potential players leaved or never started the EU experience and that deserve not only the game but all of us.

So stop EU bashing please.

Thanks

Would not really call it bashing.
The Cryengine was a good move at that time, Gamebryo was too old and limited.
A lot of people did not have the hardware then to run it halfway decent and alot of people will probably not half the hardware if another update like that comes. A lot (really really lot...there where around 1 Million registrations in 2008) left after the update.
What most are afraid of is that their hardware will not handle it and if I read that a laptop can not handle it even now properly....

kind of funny/sad....spent a few hundred bucks each month to play and can not afford some proper hardware because of spending a few hundred bucks each months for playing ?


Aslo swiching to another engine would be a really bad idead, it took them years to have eveyrthing back in what we had before the switch and they are using only a fraction of what the current engine could produce. There is simply no budget to make it look better, not enough users losing enough.
No "Second Life" hype to draw new users in masses.
A gazillion of MMOs which are free to play and do not costs an arm and a leg each month (unless you considers those big "microtransactions).

Entropia is a niche for some very special people, there are not that many on this world that are willing to pay the time and costs for it. It is not something that can attract tens of millions, maybe only 5 million and of those we have probably lost already 4 because of the changes in the past 16 years. It is something for the better monetary funded people, not really rich, but able to spend some 100 bucks each month.
One can surely play it for free, if one does not work and have a family and no ambition at all to get <enter next archievement> .
Besides that, the higher you get the more you have to either invest or do smart trades.



So, nope...see no bashing....just the fear of losing it all.
And personally...I ended up here because I really got sick of all those game servers closing down...had two-three subscription running on so many MMOs and then suddenly they were gone..after years of dedication.
nope...no drastic changes after the active playerbase reaches something like 50k monthly and not the roughly 5k we have now.
 
LOL

Every weeks i see a post who a guy say : don't do that, the game will die !
Oh guys ! Stop to cry before MA start to move. I'm tired to read that all the time.

In fact, this game is still alive, i started in 2015. Ok some players left the game since but other players took the free place.
I read all time the game will die after each major change, but as i see, majority of players are still here and i see new faces all time. I would not stay in a game if i have to play like i was in 2003 or 2010 XD

You want all a better game experience, better loots etc ... The game is not perfect, ok i can admit that but with post like that, i'm pretty sure, plenty potential players leaved or never started the EU experience and that deserve not only the game but all of us.

So stop EU bashing please.

Thanks

Says the guy who joined just this forum never mind the game 10 years after me. You where not hear to see the glory days when Entropia was a fantastic universe to be a part of. That was all way before your time. You have not see the major changes that have sunk the game backwards. Your the one overreacting to me just saying I worry that it will happen not that i assume it will. I'm just pointing out that MA should at least be looking at stats of it's users to make sure that they dont change the engine to make the game unplayable for many of it's users.
 
Says the guy who joined just this forum never mind the game 10 years after me.

It seems you think i'm not legit versus you because i started the game 10 years after you...
I bet i reach alot more than achievement on the game than you, i bet i spent more ped in hunt/craft/mining than you in less than 4 years than you in 15 years.
I'm not a forum specialist, i prefer to spend my time on the game than on the forum.

As i saw since i started the game, MA reduced the cost to play as they stated, MA did a great improvement with that new camera system (some bugs have to be repaired like the HOF/Globals animation), it is alot more easy to hunt and i would be happy to see a huge graphic improvement.

About low grapgics computers, there is differents graphics option, low up to very high... MA did alot improvments and now you can configure the game,there is alot more options that you can interact yourself, you can make the game unique for you.

You where not hear to see the glory days when Entropia was a fantastic universe to be a part of. That was all way before your time. You have not see the major changes that have sunk the game backwards. Your the one overreacting to me just saying I worry that it will happen not that i assume it will.

I don't care what happenned 15 years ago. I care only what the futur will see me, i'm always excited to see improvements. When i see screenshots from the game at star, omg this is horrible, don't tell me that was a fantastic universe !
This is the main problem with old "players", you are stuck in the past. I'm from the new generation, i'm not alone, and for us, the game is more better since we started to play.


I'm just pointing out that MA should at least be looking at stats of it's users to make sure that they dont change the engine to make the game unplayable for many of it's users.

I agree, but i think MA is not stupid and they know that. But at a moment, they can't give 100% satisfaction. This is impossible. I prefer to see a move from MA and lose some account than to not see anything new.
 
kind of funny/sad....spent a few hundred bucks each month to play and can not afford some proper hardware because of spending a few hundred bucks each months for playing ?
Unfortunally thats true, im one of those that if i dont find and better hardware from the computer shop trash to switch to i dont bother to buy an hardware improvement, but when u have tons of people that do not have 500dollars to upgrade theyre computer but are ready to deposit 10times that over a shop or a ship it means that they are goin in the right direction.


Would not really call it bashing.
The Cryengine was a good move at that time, Gamebryo was too old and limited.
A lot of people did not have the hardware then to run it halfway decent and alot of people will probably not half the hardware if another update like that comes. A lot (really really lot...there where around 1 Million registrations in 2008) left after the update.
What most are afraid of is that their hardware will not handle it and if I read that a laptop can not handle it even now properly....
Game doesnt even express full graphic potential of cryengine 2 yet, a playground of this dimension is almost impossible to be done very quick. Tho they never stopped updating and people feel more and more confident = prices of goods keep increasing, new people entering business, people are finally understanding how to play this game = competition even for the old immortals from gamebryo. I dont want to make names, but newcomers are there, builded themself depositing and some are getting out of theyre egg after years of freeplaying.

Aslo swiching to another engine would be a really bad idead, it took them years to have eveyrthing back in what we had before the switch and they are using only a fraction of what the current engine could produce. There is simply no budget to make it look better, not enough users losing enough.
No "Second Life" hype to draw new users in masses.
A gazillion of MMOs which are free to play and do not costs an arm and a leg each month (unless you considers those big "microtransactions).
new version of engines are usually development compatible with older versions, we could have already switched to a new engine and we dont notice the difference.

Entropia is a niche for some very special people, there are not that many on this world that are willing to pay the time and costs for it. It is not something that can attract tens of millions, maybe only 5 million and of those we have probably lost already 4 because of the changes in the past 16 years. It is something for the better monetary funded people, not really rich, but able to spend some 100 bucks each month.
One can surely play it for free, if one does not work and have a family and no ambition at all to get <enter next archievement> .
Besides that, the higher you get the more you have to either invest or do smart trades.

Was a niche not anymore, im the living proof that u dont need to be irl rich to obtain notable achievements (land area). It is true that the higher u get the harder it becomes, like every mmo, but in here it still worth doin it.

So, nope...see no bashing....just the fear of losing it all.
And personally...I ended up here because I really got sick of all those game servers closing down...had two-three subscription running on so many MMOs and then suddenly they were gone..after years of dedication.
nope...no drastic changes after the active playerbase reaches something like 50k monthly and not the roughly 5k we have now.
We all have fears, but if u let fear drive ur actions u will not live. U should revisit active player count, because its way higher than that.
 
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lets not update the serious old game engine to the latest edition because the old age pensioner playing the game has an old potato and doesn't want to spend $400 dollars on a new pc even though they probably spends $1k's a year paying to play the game!

You wont boost a fricken games player base using decade old game engines. You must keep with the times!

I would probably return as a regular player if the engine and graphics were not so outdated.
 
I will write what I wrote on the website, as I am not sure if the person who owns the site approves his comments to public:

I hate to say it, but these are very typical question that have been constantly asked for over the years by many interviewers with basically the same responses. Although its good to see MindArk doing up to date press interviews, For someone who has played Entropia since basically the start, this is not new information.

As an old Entropia player I recommend Entropia Universe itself, virtual tycoon Is no good, you cant even split or join stacks, and really only designed for crafting.

And for the link that leads to the VU16 graphics update, right click is still needed to get out of vehicles and to pick up vehicles, right click has not gone away, if anything they just removed how easy right click was to get to, and its ability to access absolutely everything in a few clicks, there has been a number of improvements in the update, targeting is one of them, but its still a new released update and still need to developed further.
 
lets not update the serious old game engine to the latest edition because the old age pensioner playing the game has an old potato and doesn't want to spend $400 dollars on a new pc even though they probably spends $1k's a year paying to play the game!

You wont boost a fricken games player base using decade old game engines. You must keep with the times!

I would probably return as a regular player if the engine and graphics were not so outdated.

Actually this would be one of the worse moves for Entropia, if you keep changing the game engine every few years to keep a few people happy, where is the time for updating the actual game play?

Why push for a graphical update when many elements of the game play are still lacking, like an actual point to taming animals for example.

There are many older less graphical games that are still played today based on their great game play alone. No one wants a pretty looking game with no content, or half completed content.
 
Actually this would be one of the worse moves for Entropia, if you keep changing the game engine every few years to keep a few people happy, where is the time for updating the actual game play?

Why push for a graphical update when many elements of the game play are still lacking, like an actual point to taming animals for example.

There are many older less graphical games that are still played today based on their great game play alone. No one wants a pretty looking game with no content, or half completed content.

hmmm...are you talking about Anthem ? :D

and talking about taming...how long did it take till it was back in...four years ?


They could probably get the graphics in a new engine (helll..we still have a lot of textures from the old one ) , maybe even use most of the extras they developed, but I would see absolutely no reason for it. New engine does not improve anything visually, unless you do the upgrades to the visuals, which would require developers for it which MA does not have.
The Content on Calypso is almost non existent....there is some storyline now and then but nothing a noob would start end at a certain point. We have mission from which most do not have to do anything with the storyline but are just a grind whit a small sweetener at the end as reward (from which I am really not sure, if I pay for the reward along the way...when I start a 10k Mission it seems my return rate goes way down).

For me it has nothing to do with not having the right equipment at home...it is enough to play anything at 1080p in ultra and I do not need more.
Some may call the old timers in EU "old farts", which I find very unrespectfull, because they paid enough for still having EU alive and kicking today. Even if their Computers can not handle the full glory, they are the ones paying the most.not the one to three that spen 500K Peds to get to the top in 5 years, but the roughly 1000 that have spent around 100K Peds the past 10 years and especiall the really few dozens that have broken way more than a million and keep doing it, because they just do not care about the money and see EU as a way to wind down from work...few clicks on explosive projectiles can give a Vegas kick without the flight :D

nope...EU needs a solid fundation of players and changes that endanger the existing one is a way to bancruptcy (which Ma also has experience with). We need "highrollers" that stay not a few thousand "spent 1k Ped, was nice looking but boring and told all my friend to stay away".



Maybe it all went wrong when Planet Michale did not take off ?! :D
 
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