Evaluation say – MindArk and FPC will launch VU10.0 today, in app. 1-2 hours. We have a team monitoring the launch and to fix any issues that arise. Be nice to the new world and please report any issues or bugs you encounter to the Entropia Support.

See you on Calypso!

Quick update on the ongoing release work with VU 10. Still no ETA as to when we open up Planet Calypso VU10. We are still in transition mode and test and tweak things. An ETA will probably be given tomorrow when we have evaluated the tests and tweaks. An Content List as well as a VU 10 FAQ will be released as well, once the evaulation will allow it. We don’t want to release any information too early and thus risking it to become false due to last minute updates.

War Titan Typhon impacted at Hadesheim at 00:00.15 UTC August 17th.

The explosion was large enough for debris to be thrown into space. Fire-storms are raging across north-west Eudoria. An ash cloud is quickly forming over Calypso, blocking the sun. Surface readings indicate that the global temperature is dropping, and scientists are expecting a minor ice age.

Planet Calypso has been declared a disaster area by the Federal Imperial Navy, and travel to and from the planet is restricted until further notice.

Just as the Typhon passed the orbit of Calypso’s outer moon Eris, the looming war machine accelerated despite the increasing long range barrage of the pursuing battle group. The new trajectory means that it will hit Calypso near Hadesheim.

RDI predicts massive destruction: given the mass of the War Titan, the impact crater will probably be on the order of two kilometers in diameter, there will be an area of total devastation several times bigger, and secondary effects of the impact will probably cause a small ice age. “If you’re not off the planet until then, you’re toast” as the RDI spokesman put it.

And chances are that a lot of people will be toast. In order to maximize casualties, Scylla-like robot units are threatening the routes to the evacuation hangars, wreaking havoc on colonists trying to get off the planet in time.

An armada of civilian ships took off from Calypso and surrounding space stations, in a last ditch attempt to stop the approaching War Titan Typhon. The plan was to get close to the War Titan under long range cover fire from the pursuing Federal Imperial Navy battle group, and insert special operations team in order to destroy or divert the War Titan.

The plan quickly went haywire. As the armada left atmosphere and were preparing for their gauntlet run towards Typhon, they were intercepted by the missing Medium Strike Vessel Damocles. The leaders of the armada decided to divert some ships to board the Damocles, while the rest moved on to Typhon.

The ships attacking Typhon suffered heavy losses, despite the cover barrage from the Federal Imperial Navy. The special operations teams did not succeed in their mission: contact with the boarding party was quickly lost and Typhon’s trajectory has not changed. The fate of the Damocles team was equally grim: the last transmission from the landing party before it was lost revealed large “Scylla” like mechs. No number count was confirmed.

The pursuing battle group continues to pound Typhon, but at the range their weapons are largely ineffectual. Damocles is in high orbit above Calypso, and is out of range of the battle group. Ground forces are on high alert and requested to assist at evacuation locations.

Since the destruction of Fleet Support Vessel Julius Caesar, Fleet Command has transferred to the new flagship, Heavy Strike Vessel Alexander, that leads the breakneck hunt for Typhon. The war-torn battle group has been further diminished as the battle of Hypnos takes its toll.

Rapid Strike Vessel Tutankhamen exploded from engine failure. Medical Support Ship Eratosthenes had to stop completely as its engines failed just inside the orbits of Janus 1 and 2.

The strangest fate of all is that of the Medium Strike Vessel Damocles, that suddenly increased speed and left the battle group behind. When hailed, the damaged warship did not respond at first, and then transmitted a powerful but garbled digital code signal. Contact with MSV Damocles was then lost.

A spokesman announced that the Federal Imperial Navy battle group intercepted the War Titan Typhon just outside the orbit of Hypnos, the sixth planet of the system. In the ensuing battle, the battle group sustained heavy losses. The flagship, Fleet Support Vessel Julius Caesar, as well as the Heavy Strike Vessels Anthony and Vercingetorix and Medium Strike Vessel Boudica were destroyed, all hands lost. Medium Strike Vessel Leonidas rammed the War Titan, temporarily disrupting its fire and allowing the rest of the fleet to disengage from combat. Several other ships have taken heavy damage and some are incapacitated.

Typhon continues unabashed on its trajectory, and it is now clear that it will reach Calypso around midnight on Sunday. The remaining ships of the battle group, among them Heavy Strike Vessels Alexander, Octavian, Rameses and Scipio, and Medium Strike Vessels Damocles and Pompey rounded Hypnos and are in pursuit of Typhon.

Left behind are Heavy Strike Vessel Xerxes, Light Support Vessel Darius, and Medium Strike Vessel Cleopatra, and several smaller incapacitated or heavily damaged ships.

The Federal Imperial Navy has a hotline for relatives of spacers in the battle.

Dear Calypsians,

After an extensive conversion process of the Planet Calypso Colonist MMO to the CryENGINE2 game engine, First Planet Company wish to inform that Version 9.4 will be officially closed down at 00:00 UTC on Monday, August 17th, in preparation for the launch of Version 10, expected to arrive during the following days. Progress updates and latest information will be available at the Planet Calypso website.

Version 10.0 Client Acquisition
The new Version 10.0 client will be approximately 4 GB in size and will be made available pre-launch via BitTorrent; the link to the torrent file will be available on Friday, Aug. 14th via the Planet Calypso website. The Client Loader will also automatically patch Version 9.4 to Version 10.0 as normal via HTTP on Monday Aug. 17th. Please note, as the BitTorrent option will require Third Party Software we will not be able to provide Support for this option.

Version 10.0 Login
It will not be possible to log into the Version 10 environment until a range of internal performance checks have been completed following the Version 9.4 close down. Updates will be posted on the Planet Calypso website informing on its progress.

Your Avatar
Each participant avatar has been converted as closely as possible to its Version 9.4 look. You will have the option to keep this converted look, or, take advantage of a one-time opportunity to recreate your avatar using the full modification range available through the system. This one-time opportunity will only be available following the Version 10 update. Once you have “Accepted” your avatar, the offer will no longer be available. Newly created avatars will use the regular ‘avatar creation’ system.

Release Schedule
In order to manage the quality, and listen to feedback during this comprehensive upgrade of Planet Calypso and the underlying Entropia Platform, systems will be reintroduced over a period of several Version Updates in quick succession.

Version Update 10.0 will begin with the most widely used systems: Hunting, Mining, Crafting, PvP Trade, Auction, CND Asteroid, Banks, Estates, Shops, Land Areas, PvP Combat, Society, Friends List, Ad System, Participant Content, Terminals, Items, Garment Customization, Inventory, Storage, Hall of Fame, Teleport, Chat, Keyboard Mapping, Dashboard, Map, GUI and Gifts.

A detailed Version Update 10 Content List will be available when the new environment is available for login.
The following updates will quickly follow the Version 10 Release:

Version Update 10.1 will see Land Area Management, MindForce Teleportation, Apartments, Televators and Fruit, Dung & Stones.

Version Update 10.2 will include Teaming, Third Person Avatar Navigation, and Audio Enhancements.
Version Updates following 10.2 will include major new systems, along with enhancements to current systems.

Feedback & Support
The Entropia Universe Support Dept. and Entropia Platform Developers will closely monitor the release of Version Update 10.0, and work diligently for all participants during the transition.

Daily updates on mini-patches and performance tweaks will be available through the Planet Calypso website. To assist us in providing timely and efficient support, and software patches as required, we ask that your feedback be submitted via Support Cases through the Planet Calypso website.

“Second Golden Age of Calypso”
First Planet Company’s “Second Golden Age of Calypso” promotion period will unfold parallel to the Version Updates. A range of unique never-to-be-dropped-again items, combined with an updated Calypso story will ensure maximum entertainment and excitement available through the systems being introduced. The official begin-date will be announced on the Planet Calypso website.

An enlarged group of Official Planet Calypso Guides will be available throughout the period to welcome and guide new colonists to our planet.

System Requirements
Minimum, Recommended and Optimal hardware requirements are now available at the Planet Calypso website. While the in-world Options Panel has been updated considerably; allowing a wide range of graphical settings to facilitate varying hardware configurations, this initial release focuses on optimal graphical performance. Minimum and Recommended requirements will be optimized next.

Finally
We thank you all for your patience and support during this exciting development. While Version Update 10 has focused on the conversion of the existing Planet Calypso, we hope that you will enjoy the new features that we have gained, like the day/night cycles, improved avatar movement, updated interfaces and much more. Planet Calypso is evolving again, in real time, and we will all once again enjoy the thrill of colonists setting foot on a new land.

Finally, First Planet Company would also like to express our appreciation to the Entropia Platform Developers who have spent many challenging months developing the platform to such a high level. We look forward to a bright future for the Planet Calypso Colonist MMO.

Best Regards
First Planet Company
MindArk PE

Some weeks ago, scientists observed and started to track a moving object in the outskirts of the Omega 16 Reticuli system. The object was catalogued as Reticuli-217-0509 and given the name Typhon. On further study, they discovered that it is fast, moving through the system, and manufactured.

That prompted the Federal Imperial Navy to launch a probe. Although not coming directly from Akbal-Cimi, the object was identified as a Robot War Titan when the probe was within visual range of the object.

The Federal Imperial Navy detachment in the system is moving to intercept the War Titan. The Navy estimates that the fleet will meet Typhon on or around Tuesday.

Several independent witnesses reported mysterious contrails over the skies of Calypso around noon today. The objects causing the contrails quickly crossed over the skies and disappeared. On one occasion, pictures were taken of the objects that were described as “disc-shaped flying crafts”.

Nobody seems to know about the origin of the flying discs, and if they do, they remain silent. Space Watch has not reported any objects closing on to Calypso. The Federal Imperial Navy denies any testing of undisclosed jets in Calypso’s upper atmosphere. A telling sign is that as the rest of us speculate of government conspiracies or coming invasions, CDF’s only response is that they are investigating the incident and urges the public to remain calm.