Meet Magnus, First Planet Company’s dedicated World Builder, and Alexander, one of our hard-working Graphics Artists. You might have recently seen their work in the new Cyclops area.

Magnus joined the FPC group in October, after having worked on such games as Battlefield, Terminator Salvation and Mirrors Edge as a Level Designer. He’s been working in the game-industry since 2003, and is now enjoying working on Planet Calypso together with the First Planet Company crew. Alexander has been at MindArk and FPC for two years already, and took part in creating the world as it is today. The two of them are reworking the servers, one by one.

- It’s a daunting task, Magnus says about Planet Calypso.

- It’s a large world. But exciting, he adds.

Logic nature

As a World Builder, Magnus is here to make sure that the overview of Planet Calypso will be cohesive and logical.

- It should feel natural. It shouldn’t be art just for art’s sake; it needs to make some sense as well. You should be able to experience different areas everywhere, but there needs to be some logic behind it also. There needs to be a reason behind why it looks the way it does. That’s what I do, he explains.

The newly introduced Cyclops area by Fort Troy was the first step. It was completely redone, and optimized for performance. The old area now looks twice as stunning, and still doesn’t cost as much power to load as it used to. Magnus and Alexander don’t feel they are quite done with it yet though.

- I still want to add more landmarks. Right now it’s too much same, same. When I have the time, I might get to it. I’d like to add waterfalls and caves for example, and just add on the current look with more distinguished landmarks, Magnus explains.

- There are still many things we wish to do with the area, but there are so many servers to fix, Alexander adds.

He was the person who made the old golf-course which plumaged into the roar of the volcano. He doesn’t miss it though.

- I’m glad it’s gone. Sure I spent a lot of time on it, but when spending such amounts of time there should at least be some sense to it, purpose and usefulness. Because we aren’t getting golf in-game anytime soon, it was only a place which was hard to get around in and filled with foul. It didn’t make any sense, Alexander informs.

Optimized performance

How is it this area is better for performance?

- The value of the view distance has been tweaked, and the undergrowth vegetation such as grass has gotten a shorter view-distance. The lay of the land there is very rolling, so you normally won’t see as far as where it disappears. The trees and so on will still be there, but taking away the undergrowth really helps performance. We have a set target value for how many triangles should be visible wherever you are in order to better optimize the areas, and we’ll work on optimizing the other servers as well, Magnus says.

Does that mean all land will be as rolling and have as heavy vegetation as the Cyclops area?

- No, it all depends on the area and what look it should have. As for Cyclops, it’s a heavy jungle style, so it should have that lush jungle experience. Some fluff is needed to create that feeling. While a desert for example don’t need as much to create the same quality and look. Maybe there’d instead be particles and dust in the wind? It all depends on the terrain, he continues.

Unique areas

Alexander have worked a lot with creating the new fauna for the Cyclops server.

- I created all-new vegetation for the Cyclops area to really get that jungle feel. We wanted lianas and thick tree trunks and that wild feel. Personally I’d prefer it if we kept that vegetation to that area only, and create new flora for each area to further develop that unique feeling for each place you visit. We’ll still remake some of the old vegetation in order to keep that unique Calypso feeling and recognition value, but as it is now its almost easier to make new ones rather than convert the old ones, Alexander explains.

Magnus will, in addition to world planning, have some say in logically planning and designing buildings and cities.

- It should be easy to find your way, at least it should make sense. Proper city planning is important, Magnus stresses.

He lists real world architecture, architectural books, movies and other games as inspiration towards building in game cities.

- You can find inspiration everywhere. Sometimes, I’ll be walking with friends and look up at a building we’re passing. They’ll ask what I’m looking at, and I’ll answer that I think the tiles look really sweet. Then they’ll call me an idiot, he laughs.

Creative environment

Alexander lists making creatures as the most exciting thing to do at work, however as with all creative work he needs variation.

- I really do like making creatures. For example, I made the Eviscerator, that was a fun job. But there’s got to be variation. If you only do vegetation for a while, it’s a welcome break to do creatures, and the other way around.

- Creatures are created mostly straight out of the mind. You get the general idea about the mobs behavior, such as if it should be a small, quick mob or a big brute. Then I just sketch it up and the ideas flow from there. You just got to keep in mind that it should fit with all the others, and that it should fit the special Calypso style.

It’s not always easy to find the peace needed for creative work in an office environment. Magnus has his ways, as does Alexander. Instead of listening to the tapping of keyboards and babbling of co-workers, Magnus cancels out the noise with audio books. Alexander with music. So when asking what they want, right now, the answer comes after a little thinking:

- The next book in “The Wheel of Time” series, please, Magnus pleads.

- More hours in the day, Alexander smiles.

Aint no rest for the wicked…

Bambuco’s brilliant video made us at FPC smile. Check it out for yourself!

Mining bug on CND

Right after the implementation of VU 10.8.2, Club Neverdie was not giving any mining claims due to a bug. It was fixed, and there will be some form of compensation -more info to come on that later.

Camera while doing melee

In yesterday’s version update 10.8.2 the camera was positioned to be better synchronized with the avatar eye position. Users soon found this disturbing when mixed with melee animations, and the concerns are understood. MindArk is now re-evaluating the cameras position.

Next FPC Release

We hope that you’re anxiously awaiting our next release, which is scheduled for late March. More missions, woohoo!

LandArea Management

Amethera OLA Landarea owners, please check your e-mails during the upcoming days! We need your feedback.

Tier Item Residue

The tier system brought a bug along with it. Some players experienced that while their item was full TT-value when tiering, they did not receive any residue. This was not correct, and we are going to send out compensation to those who’ve experienced it, in the form of Metal Residue. There’s no need to send in additional support-cases to receive this compensation, we have lists of everyone affected. The compensation will be sent out within a week, and will end up in the storage of the affected users.

Mission Survey results

Wow, did you guys like the mission system or what? Look at this! We’re so happy that you’re happy. That makes for great fuel for our current work on a larger number of missions, which will be taking place in the new, beautiful Fort Troy / Cyclops area.

Calamusoid & Kerberos

The two mobs went missing, and there have evidently been some search-parties out to find them. But don’t worry, we found them.. they were badly beaten, and they are currently in for surgery. Keep your fingers crossed that they’ll make it!

Mall shop event

It was said that the mall shop event would start running again in mid February and obviously, it hasn’t. Unfortunately some items are still a bit problematic and are being worked on. The Mall shop event will happen, and it will have to start soon. If you have any items that are not working as intended, please send in a support case so we’ll be able to fix them before the Mall event starts.

Newsletter re-subscription

The Planet Calypso newsletter will be sent out a lot more frequent from now on, so make sure you have subscribed to it! We plan to develop it during 2010 with more special features, offers, bonus information and the like.

Check that you’re on our list by going to planetcalypso.com -> Account -> Manage Account. It’ll be a checkbox there with “I want to recieve information from MindArk”. If it’s checked, you should be on our mailinglist! Yay!

There have been reported cases over community forums where people are experiencing being disconnected every 6-10 minutes. This is something that is being looked into, but EUSO needs the aid of those who are experiencing the problem.

If you are experiencing the problem, please send a support case and include following information:

• What Router you are using
• What connection you have (ADSL, Fiber, etc.)
• What connection speed you have.

And remember, when you are experiencing problems with Entropia, send support cases!

Introducing FPC’s Lead Writer: A man with a Mission.

Who are you?

My name is Krister and I’m the writer at First Planet Company.

Can you describe a bit of what you do?

I write stuff. I write story lines, missions, system specs and other things, as well as implementing missions into the game. I have a few associates that help me with implementation, writing et cetera, so I’m not all alone. And that’s good, because there’s a lot to do.

These five missions of the preview, are those representative for future missions?

Yes and no. We wrote these missions quite early, before the system was fully realized. We figured that if we can do these missions, we have the basic features of a mission system.

As you have seen, we can do that. Of course, there’s room for improvement, but under the hood is a very powerful and flexible system. I think we can go far beyond the basic features.

So why did you make them? Why did you stop there?

We made these missions for three reasons. First, we wanted to learn the system. It’s smoking hot from MindArk’s development, and we have to learn what we can do and how we can do it.

Second, we wanted to give you a preview, so that we could get feedback, especially about what you want.

And third, we needed an introduction to Planet Calypso for new players. This should give the new players some direction as they start playing, something we seriously lacked before. This is by no means the final installment of the introduction and it can and will be improved a lot, but even as it is now, it is a lot better than the previous “you were killed by robots and reconstructed; now go and gather sweat”.

What can you do with the mission system?

I don’t know.

Seriously, I haven’t found the limits yet. There seems to be no end to what you can do with the system. We’re aware of some limits, but they’re mostly visual stuff and we’re working with MindArk to have those issues fixed.

When it comes to story flow, there are practically no limits. I sometimes joke about being able to make a dating sim using the mission system.

Will you?

No. But it’s definitely possible to have a contact’s mood change depending on your replies and your actions, and the story will definitely depend on what happens. Successfully completing a mission may open doors, failing will take the story on other roads.

So there’s no need for any deus ex machina endings, no need for someone to say “pity you failed, but don’t worry, we fixed it anyway”. We can have them if you want, though, but the system is inherently non-linear and branching.

Will missions cost anything to initiate?

It isn’t implemented at the moment. It’s not impossible that we will add that in the future, but it’s not on the horizon either.

What kind of rewards can be expected?

We are still looking at the reward model. It’s a challenge due to the real economy, since that prohibits us from giving stuff away. We are looking at some possible solutions, including using Sweat, Dung, Stones, Fruit, Fragments and the occasional Ability increase as rewards; a token system; and achievements. We haven’t decided which one we will use yet, and we may find something else.

Will you have to complete missions in order to progress in the game?

Actually, most of the players have progressed absolutely fine until now without a mission system. Many haven’t participated in events either, and that hasn’t stopped their progression. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

The mission system is one way of progression that opens up the possibility of linking your personal story to the story of the world. We will use the mission system as one tool of many to tell and evolve the story of Planet Calypso. However, it will not be the only way, and it will always be completely voluntary. If you don’t want to go on missions, you don’t have to.

Will some missions have level or item requirements?

We can limit missions so you have to have a certain level in a skill or a certain item. In fact, in the first iteration of the Swamp Camp hunt mission, you had to have a Sollomate Opalo to get that mission. It was a bad idea for that mission, so we scrapped it.

However, we will use requirements in one form or another. For instance, there may be a mission to enter a secret bunker, but in order to do that you will need a key card. Without the key card, you wouldn’t be able to enter the bunker at all, and there may be another mission to get the key card.

And we may have mission brokers that say “no, you don’t know how to shoot straight enough, come back to me when you’ve learned to handle a rifle”. And we may do it in reverse; “a super soldier like you doing a milk run? You have better things to do, so buzz off.” In that way we can limit certain missions to certain skill or profession levels, so that new comers won’t have to compete with the uber players.

What about team support and team missions?

Right now, there is no team support. We know what we would need to add to the system in order to have full team support. For instance, we need the team leader to see the team members’ missions and missions have to be scalable, just to mention a few things we are looking at.

But that’s for the future. We have some other things to do first.

Is it possible to allow players to create missions?

Not as it is now. The system is far too powerful and needs access to some of our other tools. Perhaps someday in the distant future there may be a simplified version, but that’s far off.

What can we expect in the near future?

For starters, a lot more missions. We are working on a lot of new missions, and FPC’s next content release will contain a lot more of them.

You will also see a lot of improvements to the user experience. Missions will look and work better. You will get much better indications in GUIs and HUD of mission objectives, contacts etc.

And what can we expect in the long-term future?

Two words: epic stories.

The mission system will be one of our primary tools for telling the story of the colony on Calypso. So although we will have “perpetual missions” that can be grinded, we will also have missions that drive the story forward. Those may disappear as the story moves on – on purpose, I might add. This is a virtual universe, after all. Just as in the real world, you may find that if you weren’t there, you missed it.

Do you have any influences?

There’s a saying attributed to Pablo Picasso: “amateurs borrow; artists steal”. It’s supposed to mean that when a good artist is influenced by something, he makes it his own. Whatever it was before, it is now firmly embedded in the artist’s work and different from what it was before. Sure, you may trace his influences, but the work of art has left its origin and become something new.

The amateur, however, is influenced in such a way that you can still see that this is an imitation of the original work. It’s not his. It’s someone else’s and there’s nothing new in it. In that sense, I strive for stealing. I will always be influenced, especially considering how much media I consume, but I always strive to make it my own, to make it new. It’s a tricky challenge.

If I am to name the one person that has had the biggest influence on me and my writing, it has to be Joseph Campbell, because he shows how stories are told and why we tell them that way.

As for thematic influences… oh, I could just go on namedropping forever, so I won’t.

Aw, come on!

Okay, here’s one: Tunnel in the Sky, by Robert Heinlein. And I’ll give you one for free: Santiago: A Myth from the Far Future, by Mike Resnick.

One final question: right now, what do you want?

Zero-calorie chocolate, a region-free bluray/DVD-player and two weeks off.

Event and Server issues:
FPC are aware that there were difficulties this weekend with server stability and player run events. We’re now looking into these issues and will get back to you as soon as possible.

LandAreas:
Last VU we removed the trade- and revivalterminals that were placed out for the duration of the SGA period from the LandAreas. There was no notification about that in the Content List, but now you know!

Mission Survery:
Would like to remind you all to take our Quest/Mission-survey here. We need your feedback!

Ever since the introduction of the mob “Proteron”, it’s been a very popular mob, both for solo hunters and for team hunters. There have been two healthy, thick spawns on Eudoria; one with higher maturity and one with lower. We wanted to get the amazing winning creature from the “Create-a-Critter” competition out for players to enjoy.

FPC has a policy concerning mobs we would like to share. Planet Calypso is a game of opportunity and business in its core. Investments and player dedication is a vital part of the colonist experience. The policy mention stipulates that FPC will not compete with private interests – on Imperial Government lands the mobs or spawns will always be lesser than they can be if managed by a dedicated private land owner.

Going back to the Proteron, we wanted to show it to the world in its pride and glory. But it is now ready to take the next step to fall in line with the above mentioned policy. Time has come to thin out the spawn and reduce the maturity on Government lands on Eudoria. Land Area owners will have their opportunity to serve the hungry masses juicy Proteon steak though, as DNA will be released in the future.

Creatures:
There’s been some mobs reported missed by the community. Last time I reported the floating mobs had been fixed and respawned, and it’s been pointed out that I did not mention the Oculus. The Oculus has also been fixed, and it will be in for the upcoming Version Update.
The Tantardions are also in again, together with a large spawn of Tantillions.
The Tezlepod’s will return to their original small size.
Fungoid will no longer be invisible.

Teleport Swoosh:
The old animation for Mindforce teleporting seems to be missed. The current animation is not here to stay though, as all new animations will be released with the revamp of the MindForce system that we’re working on.

Ad screens in malls:
For some reason the ad screens have gone bananas and have ended up backwards. It will be fixed!

Landgrab:
Landgrab will be reinvented in order to renovate the landgrab-experience. So I’m sorry to tell you there won’t be any landgrab in the near future.

Upcoming VUs .
We’re getting close to mid-February and for Calypso that means a couple of new VU’s. First up is FPC’s own content VU including the Mission system which I’ve written a little about earlier.

Missing mobs.
Sumimas and Gradivores will be in for the next release. The reason for their absence is a bug where hovering mobs didn’t want to work too well in the CryEngine2, but it’s a-okay now. We apologize for the time it’s taken for that to be fixed.

Snow.
Just FYI, Gothenburg is not used to handling snow. And it’s snowing a lot here these days. So the snow you’re experiencing? We’re just sharing our lovely weather with you.

At least it’s not cold. Really though, it’ll be gone in the next VU, which should be right around the corner.

Hangars.
Hangars were missing from the roadmap blog-entry, but fear not! That too is planned to be reintroduced before the end of the year, like all old systems.

Missing description on armor plating.
The fix is ready and will come with the next VU.

Missing foot guards.
I’ve gotten word that Trooper foot guards weren’t in game yet. However, after checking, it turns out that the blueprints does exist in-game. If you believe there are still armor parts missing (other than SGA armor parts, we’re aware of those) feel free to let me know!

Thought I’d spend some time to clarify a little about how I’ll work, and my responsibilities as a Community Manager.

First of all I will hang a lot around the community forum and in-game to pick up the latest buzz and concerns. Right now I’m pretty new in the job, so all the information you require are not necessarily something I’ll know right off the bat; however I am in that position that I can direct the questions to the right people and then bring their answers to you via Entropia Gateway, where I’ll continually post.

When I’ve gotten settled, I’m planning on also doing frequent live chat Q&A’s.

I will take over the newsletters, which will come out on a steady basis from here on. I will also work on updating the website, and I’ll work on acquiring feedback from the community via surveys that will be available on our website.

I really want to keep in touch with the non-English speaking forums. So if you running a non-English forum and haven’t yet gotten a mail from me yet, please contact me so I know where to send information in the future. Its important for these large communities not to fall behind on information.

Emma and Simon are still the ones you’ll contact regarding FPC sponsored events.. However, I might be relieving them off some duties, so if you’re running a major event, we might talk. However, direct your inquiries to Emma first.

Of course, if you have anything on your mind, feel free to contact me!
Yours,
Hanne