Project Entropia Development Report 4

Source: http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/features/den/pedev04.shtml

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Project Entropia Development Report #4

November 16, 2001

There is a saying that "Time flies when you're having fun." It is also true that time passes very rapidly when you are busy. So what happens when you are both busy and having fun?

Judging from the past month, it goes even faster. When I look at the calendar, I know that it has been four weeks since the last Project Entropia Development Report, but it feels like it was written only a few days ago.

In any case, we have made considerable progress during this time. On October 18, we released a major patch with many feature additions and improvements. That was actually just the day before the last Development Report, so we had very little feedback yet. The most visible change was the implementation of many new graphics that take advantage of the capabilities of the NetImmerse 4 engine. Happily, we have had terrific response from our beta testers and also from people who have seen recent screenshots. Even more important, we are enormously pleased about the positive reactions to elements such as new NPCs and monsters plus improved AI as well as the upgraded user interfaces for both trade and trade terminals.

Since that date, we have also implemented another major patch, which was released on November 6. This time, some of the more notable features included new camera controls that allow rotation around your character and zooming, an improved armor system with multiple pieces in place of single whole-body armors, upgrades to the inventory system, a number of new monsters as well as more of them than before, and a variety of new terrain objects to help make the world look and feel more complete. Once again, the nature of the feedback we have received has been tremendously favorable, which has helped a great deal to make the long hours that the development team has been putting in feel worthwhile, even fun.

In addition, the developers have of course been working on many other things that have yet to be implemented as well as constantly finding and eliminating bugs and improving things like the AI and server performance. This process of continuous improvement and development is something we have planned on since we started, and it is also something we intend to carry on for a long time, indeed for the full life of Project Entropia. The usual practice that we have seen with online worlds is to reduce the size of the team significantly after release and to move the rest to other projects. MindArk is completely committed to Project Entropia, so we are not planning any other projects. Instead, our intention is that all our development resources will be focused on continuing to improve and to expand Project Entropia so that it will have a life span of many years.

But that's the long-term future. For the near future, our overall progress during the past few weeks has been highly encouraging. In fact, it has been so positive that we are eagerly looking ahead to moving into Phase III of our beta test. We are not ready to announce a starting date or reveal a lot of details yet, but we can say that Phase III will include not only more testers, but the vitally important initial trial of our economy system, involving both our own virtual currency, Project Entropia Dollars, and real cash. At the moment, we are working out the fine points of some testing plans that will be absolutely revolutionary and far more exciting than anything we have ever seen in a beta test before. You'll have to wait a little while to find out more - we hope it won't be very long - but we think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you find out what we are planning.

Although we will definitely make an announcement and release further information before Phase III begins, we invite anyone who has not previously applied to take part in the beta test to do so at http://www.project-entropia.com/betatest/apply.asp?topic=betatest and also to sign up for our weekly and monthly newsletters at http://www.project-entropia.com/news/default.asp?topic=news so you can be sure to receive the latest news and information quickly and directly to your e-mail inbox. Exciting times are coming up soon for Project Entropia, so don't miss out.

Patric Sundstrom
Marketing Manager
MindArk AB