What we lost in Cryengine Update (Unreal 5 will most likely be similar)

[Spacejanitor]

And the best NightClub ever. The Parties on CND like Pinks Saturday snd Champions Leaque etc. Selling event tickets, etc.

 

[jambon]

I would also find it cool to have a 'game' feature such as 'pick up the stache if the tt total is correct'. It could be set by a person dropping the first item somewhere. The next visitors could only drop new stuff next to it that was below the 'prize target'. There could be a drop timer limiting a person to one drop (or attempted drop) per hour, or whatever, to keep a player from rapidly trying to get the correct unknown tt value.

That sort of thing could be included, rather than removed, with a little fun thinking and time spent on fun features..... please?

And the best NightClub ever. The Parties on CND like Pinks Saturday snd Champions Leaque etc. Selling event tickets, etc.

Goecaching is quite popular in real life, why not virtual life too?

See one thing Mindark never got was the concept of leveraging player created content. Some of the most popular games in the world have the vast majority of their content and entertainment derived from user created content. And those game have succeeded by enabling the players to have the freedom to create. (IE minecraft, roblox and basically every game using steam workshop). Even Second Life was big on giving users the tools to create content and enabling them to create their own fun and means to profit.

Sadly up to this point MA has stopped at nothing to remove all user created enjoyment. Boiling it all down to just grinding or holding deeds as this is the only way they can see making a profit. Hopefully they wake up and reconsider their whole profit model in unreal.

 

[Rocket192]

City centers were a lag fest as the engines couldn’t handle it.

UE5 and advancements in hardware alleviate that problem so I could see major hubs making a comeback.

important to remember though that nostalgia doesn’t mean it was good or better. It’s a fallacy. We always view the past more favorably than it really was because we disregard the bad.

old PE came along with 60% TT returns regularly, finding UL gear was harder than it is now, everything took longer because no vehicles, peds in loot was cool, but shrapnel in loot is cooler.
Economically old PE was only tolerable for people because markup output margins were massive… everything you looted could be sold at huge markups. The old ways ported into the current economy and popularity is a death sentence.

I prefer to remember old PE for what it was and look forward to what EU can be.

 

[jetsina]

I take issue with your views on nostalgia, Rocket. I don't forget what was bad. If I did that then heck, my list of what was bad would be even longer than it is (but it isn't because I've forgotten ). I regularly compare changed systems and weigh up improvements against what has been made worse. I even go so far as to give a lesser weighting to what I think is better or worse for me personally, but where many players will disagree.
I think we all agree that crashing out of the game for whatever reason is a bad thing. That happens A LOT less these days, and I assume can be maintained in UE5.
Many other things could well be positive from the transition too, if performance really is better, enabling more people to congregate again without unbearable lag. That is something I lost in Cryengine over the predecessor - I rarely visited the new trading point of Twin Peaks (over many vus under Cryengine) and couldn't go to some gatherings at all.
I agree that nostalgia is a somewhat emotional word (if you think that), so given that so much I 'feel' about is currently less good, I don't think I will be feeling nostalgic about what EU has become right now when it morphs into UE5. The analysis will be much more sober, and hopefully feelings can be reawakened.
This is why I also mentioned a bit of upside a few posts earlier, that we won't just lose some things, we will gain/regain them too hopefully...

 

[Wistrel]

After reading through the OP I scrolled down to post this. OFC they broke the links too but this lasted until 2018 -

R.I.P. Old Traditions

View image in gallery View image in gallery View image in gallery

www.planetcalypsoforum.com

Very near my leaving absolutely pissed they were taking more and more out and refusing to fix any actual problems

Which came back first, hangars or pets?

But removing things is Mindark's way of solving problems... the CEO can press the delete button, everything else requires staffing

 

[San]

Thanks for the heads up about gibberish - removed it from list (Didnt know it was an option, never looked)

Added rest to the list

It was absent for many years, not very long ago that it was finally reinstated.

A lot of the charming details and original ideas got lost probably due to difficulties of recreating them under the restrictions of the new platform, or were just not economically viable to do again. These things are nice but it's hard to find their contribution to the bottom line, and the company was losing money back then. It would not have survived without fundamental changes, this is why I'm always of two minds when it's about bemoaning these losses.

I do hope the next big change at least enables the team to recapture the spirit of those old days, and that whenever there is breathing space for the dev team, they are allowed to go off the hook and let their creativity unfold. We are already seeing quite an improvement in recent developments of missions and storylines, but it doesn't always have to be something big.

Terrain changes are an issue which should be taken much more seriously. One gets so used to places you begin to feel at home, and it being pulled from under your feet is a big motivation damper.

 

[jojo07]

dragging health bar (it was removed after the update) but it s one of the thing i miss the most

 

[Few Scars]

I was an addict to Polished Chrome Texture....then they destroyed it!

 

[MrFatBoy]

• Pilots/hangers. Used to be just a few ships that people paid big bucks for to be able to sell passage for 25 peds a head. Those people got completely screwed out of their investment.

i thought MA paid them 90Kped when they were bought foy waaay less? like 15-20K originally

not like there were that many flights so a 25 ped per flight your taking a looong time to make 90k ped

 

[Kyx]

In game area voice chat
DJ's on the Twin Peaks square

 

[Kristoliquid]

Miss looting armor parts for my disciples. And wooden tables from estos xD

 

[Mil]

not to talk that the game was messed up for month after the change .. no running, no third person etc. etc ... not all tp´s were working and as far as i recall not even the tp chips ..but i can be wrong here, it was long ago ... i miss all the stuff OP posted ... included long haul TP runs with a hundred people through herds of mobs with a few bigger player watch out and clear a path for lower ones ...but... nothing of it will be back ... after all MA don´t want us to socialize they want us to hunt and mine like there is no tomorrow and at best blow our money into EP .... thats what they want ... not a "game" people actually enjoy and hang out with friends even when the ped card is empty ...

 

[jojo07]

not to talk that the game was messed up for month after the change .. no running, no third person etc. etc ... not all tp´s were working and as far as i recall not even the tp chips ..but i can be wrong here, it was long ago ... i miss all the stuff OP posted ... included long haul TP runs with a hundred people through herds of mobs with a few bigger player watch out and clear a path for lower ones ...but... nothing of it will be back ... after all MA don´t want us to socialize they want us to hunt and mine like there is no tomorrow and at best blow our money into EP .... thats what they want ... not a "game" people actually enjoy and hang out with friends even when the ped card is empty ...

I miss those tp run so much, you had to find player to carry you during few days and after some months you were the one escorting noobs, it was so much fun, trying to not loose noobs agaisn t atrax and merp !

 

[ledja]

I think pets weren’t working for quite some time as well

 

[Mike Masters]

I miss when we could wear shades under helmets & footwear under armor.

I remember having some ash shades worth 3-4k, whoever had nice shades/shoes/boots when this happened got screwed.

 

[Luna Roc Hammerhand]

It was absent for many years, not very long ago that it was finally reinstated.

A lot of the charming details and original ideas got lost probably due to difficulties of recreating them under the restrictions of the new platform, or were just not economically viable to do again. These things are nice but it's hard to find their contribution to the bottom line, and the company was losing money back then. It would not have survived without fundamental changes, this is why I'm always of two minds when it's about bemoaning these losses.

I do hope the next big change at least enables the team to recapture the spirit of those old days, and that whenever there is breathing space for the dev team, they are allowed to go off the hook and let their creativity unfold. We are already seeing quite an improvement in recent developments of missions and storylines, but it doesn't always have to be something big.

Terrain changes are an issue which should be taken much more seriously. One gets so used to places you begin to feel at home, and it being pulled from under your feet is a big motivation damper.

You hit the nail on the head about the terrain changes and "feeling at home". Just started playing again after many years away and went to Camp Phoenix, doens't even come close to what it used to be. No clear overview of the area. Back in the day you could see the entire area from the TP and the little container building. I hope they bring some of that back in the future. Now you have to go around mountains too often. Zychion is still quite the same for me, when I need a bit of nostalgia.

 

[jinS]

To OP : you forgot the most important thing nah? Loot.

I'm not so old and this is not the "good old times" guy that speaks now.

I mean you had the same standard loot but with 10k argonauts, 20k atroxes, mining towers every day.

Something has been lost and many had the feeling there was some kind of big money grab from MA in an attempt to cut losses from that heavy update at the worst timing ever. (many gamers did not have a computer to run the game properly with the new engine back in time).

UE5 is the most powerful engine out there, this will just do the same...again. (likely killing the game this time in my opinion)

Edit : but agree 100% with the list. I really miss the Ninja glitchers standing in the sky of PA. Still remember the lessons I got to learn how to sit/slide on the ground. And the music. And the living towns, etc.

 

[DrGirlfriend]

To OP : you forgot the most important thing nah? Loot.

I'm not so old and this is not the "good old times" guy that speaks now.

I mean you had the same standard loot but with 10k argonauts, 20k atroxes, mining towers every day.

Something has been lost and many had the feeling there was some kind of big money grab from MA in an attempt to cut losses from that heavy update at the worst timing ever. (many gamers did not have a computer to run the game properly with the new engine back in time).

UE5 is the most powerful engine out there, this will just do the same...again. (likely killing the game this time in my opinion)

Edit : but agree 100% with the list. I really miss the Ninja glitchers standing in the sky of PA. Still remember the lessons I got to learn how to sit/slide on the ground. And the music. And the living towns, etc.

UE5 is the most optimized engine ever, and can run far more easily than cryengine2

 

[Droob]

UE5 is the most powerful engine out there, this will just do the same...again. (likely killing the game this time in my opinion)

Entropians will drop $1000 on a virtual weapon but not upgrade their PC

Engine upgrades are necessary for the longevity of Entropia. Hopefully it will draw new and returning players.

 

[jinS]

...

Entropians will drop $1000 on a virtual weapon but not upgrade their PC

Engine upgrades are necessary for the longevity of Entropia. Hopefully it will draw new and returning players.

Yup I agree. It is a great advertizing move. Unless you lose 50% of your playerbase. (like in 2012)

And unless you cut the loot so the potential new players will just get in for a try and then leave.
You can't advertize EU as you would for Call of Duty or GTA. Whatever you make it look like It's still a disguised casino.

But your post somehow explains why the game lost 90% of its social aspects if the MA board thinks as you do.
If your strategy is to bet on the players that can actually spend $1k to buy a virtual gun, then spend certainly 10 times this amount to use the said gun, then you exclude a playerbase that maybe spend less but make the game active with social events and more.

 

[Tina Walther]

In game area voice chat
DJ's on the Twin Peaks square

Ingame voicechat was after cryengine update tho. I want the buttslide back!

 

[Droob]

If your strategy is to bet on the players that can actually spend $1k to buy a virtual gun, then spend certainly 10 times this amount to use the said gun, then you exclude a playerbase that maybe spend less but make the game active with social events and more.

I agree with you. I hope MA can find a way to improve the new player experience and hopefully implement some fun things to do for those who are practically F2P.

 

[MrFatBoy]

old PE came along with 60% TT returns regularly, finding UL gear was harder than it is now, everything took longer because no vehicles, peds in loot was cool, but shrapnel in loot is cooler.
Economically old PE was only tolerable for people because markup output margins were massive… everything you looted could be sold at huge markups. The old ways ported into the current economy and popularity is a death sentence.

so people that owned mod mercs and IMK2 were not printing TT profit? i can swear i recall someone admitting that at some point after Loot 2.0 and MA confirming these types of weps were "unbalanced and should not have be released" (or something to that effect). basically those weps were over 3.0DPP or something and that gave basically TT profit then the nice MU you mention gave even more profit please events etc...

or it there another reason why those weps costed 100K -150K+ back in pre loot 2.0?

 

[DrGirlfriend]

I agree with you. I hope MA can find a way to improve the new player experience and hopefully implement some fun things to do for those who are practically F2P.

A contract system would be amazing.

proper weapon rental, plus could make a contract where someone can use your gun and armor AND ammo and all their loot using that setup is locked to the contract, so we can have free to play contract hunters that do it for skill or a bonus stipulated on the contract

 

[True Juan]

UE5 is the most powerful engine out there, this will just do the same...again. (likely killing the game this time in my opinion)

I don't think it will kill the game. From what I understand EU will be included on EPIC games which has 62 million active gamers of which 31 million are daily users. So easy access to EU - high chance people will try a "free" game. If MA gets UE5 right, EU will grow much more.

 

[jinS]

I don't think it will kill the game. From what I understand EU will be included on EPIC games which has 62 million active gamers of which 31 million are daily users. So easy access to EU - high chance people will try a "free" game. If MA gets UE5 right, EU will grow much more.

Sure there are 2 possible scenaris :

1 - they learnt from 2012 and relese the new EU with a perfect optimized version, with low settings perfected so no one gets "banned because of requirements", and of course really solid servers to ensure every newbie and regular players can connect without insane lag and/or queue.
This would be a GREAT move. (maybe the greatest ever for the game)

2 - they release a full buggy version, not optimized at all, without any server upgrade.

Now considering that large studios like Bethesda can't get a release without plenty of bugs, do you think the small MA team will manage this as mega pros? Either they will not test it prior to release or they will leave that part to some subcontracting testing companies and that can turn into nightmare (check Cyberpunk 2077).

I'm not betting on 1.

 

[DrGirlfriend]

It’s number 1 by default… just look up how ue5 works…. Ma doesn’t need to manually do anything to make it optimized

 

[Droob]

It’s number 1 by default… just look up how ue5 works…. Ma doesn’t need to manually do anything to make it optimized

Just because the engine is optimised doesn't mean what is built ontop will be.

 

[ZippO]

Hi guys,

So since there are many people that have not been here when Project Entropia was updated to Cryengine. I thought we could demonstrate and set up a list of all the things that were lost due to the engine change so that people get a sense of what apocalypse will come with Unreal 5 when it comes out (few years down the line ofcourse).

• great old music
• vegetation (many weird types of plants/trees)
• sky (was more alien before)
• ability to sit and lie down (remember when we could slide due to a bug? )
• Hadesheim (Old futuristic HUGE city)
• Old PA, Old Twin Peaks, many cities destroyed
• PVP cage in Twins (was so fun back then, ppl have spent lots of time in it - was close to TP and visible)
• Epic Landgrabs (Yes lagfest, but the concept back then was an actual land-grab)
• TP runs (There were no vehicles, so everything was done by foot so whenever you got to a new TP it was a big achievement)
• Beacons / Strange signal (Beacons were much more fun and challenging)
• Umbranoids wiped out.
• actual walking distance changed, or the feel of distance was changed, before it "felt" like a lot bigger world.
• many easter eggs removed, everything from the acid pools, to the 'oid traders, to the skeleton in the plane, etc.
• the story line changed, went from a sci-fi story with a plausible story line to what we have now.
• Competitions are gone, more a recent change but a BIG one in my opinion that will end Entropia.
• The map changed so so much in the conversion, almost not even the same world anymore...
• Estates and Landscape completely messed up
• Port Atlantis being an easily navigable trading hub. It wasn't always the bloated monstrosity it is today
• Flat terrains. Some land areas like neas used to be flat rather than the jagged hilly mess they are now
• Pilots/hangers. Used to be just a few ships that people paid big bucks for to be able to sell passage for 25 peds a head. Those people got completely screwed out of their investment.
• The old trade interface. There was something about the face to face trading and the "alright" or "uh uh" sound. Gave a real sense of the commerce going on around you.
• The old Calypso/amethera map. They maybe retained 15% of how the original maps were laid out.
• Facial animations. I think some are back but they didn't exist for years after the move
• The new oxford art gallery where you could buy virtual and real art!
• New mob reveals. Used to be a whole thing of looting parts.
• All avatars body/facial settings were reset.
• Jukeboxes in town.
• Sweating with bare hands (no device used back then)
• Animation and sounds from old trades.... “Alright” ... “Yeah”
• Possibility to leave stuff on ground (It was possible to drop nearly all items from inventory)

There are many many more I cant think of so old-timers help me out here

Holy so many memories..

No wonder i quit logging in for 5 years after that update xD)..

Bring back the stuff we loved about this game from the start Mindark! Try to get some REAL feel and flavor. Game is an empty shell of what it once was.

 

[jetsina]

Just because the engine is optimised doesn't mean what is built ontop will be.

Indeed. I've not looked 'in-depth' at how UE5 can simplify rendering for lower power and low ram systems, but there is also a misconception around the word optimised, because most optimisations actually aren't; they are improvements. It may be up to the EU devs to allow 1000 trees to not be shown at all at the lowest level, with UE5 saying sorry for the framerate bro, but I have my instructions.

On the other hand, enabling more devices to run EU in the future may help to keep things in check. I hope we don't lose the freedom to set individual qualities (sky, shadows etc.) ourselves.