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Character Select Interface - Prototype

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Vendetta Online is Free To Play, without level caps, across Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and beyond, since August 2020. Download Today.

Interface Development

A new interface is being constructed for all platforms of the game, currently in testing solely on Windows Desktop.

The prototype will be in development for some time, with new menus rolled out onto Windows as they become available.

In the meantime, there will be a mixture of "old" and "new" interfaces in the Windows version, which may be disabled (reverted to the old interface only), via Options, Interface, UI Skin, Platinum.

This development is only one part of a series of major updates impacting the usability, new user experience, missions and accessibility of the game.

Localization

For nearly twenty years, Vendetta Online has been available solely in English. We are now working to change that.

We have always wanted to support other languages, but the technical nature of the game itself was a major barrier.

Ours is not a game one can easily "translate" and move on, the way that most games are localized..

- Our content changes, fairly often, and strings need to be re-translated, meaning we need continuous localization.

- Some content may be assembled dynamically, making translation of context quite challenging.

- We have a single game universe, across all regions and languages. Meaning all platforms must support all languages, all the time. Even on lower-end mobile devices, with limited memory.

This is a major undertaking, and one that has been in-progress for a couple of months, while we're also working on the new User Interface.

We've been making good progress, although we are not setting a specific date when non-English support will first arrive in the game.

Most likely, localization will be rolled out in "stages". First a few menus and basic tutorials, then more mission data and other content afterwards.

Stay tuned for more information. In due course we will announce the list of initially-supported languages and other information.

NPC and AI Changes

A variety of important changes have appeared recently, often stemming directly from player-submitted threads on our Suggestions Forum.

• Most NPCs now obey radar range limits, including Storms and other environmental changes. Some NPCs, like those relating to Missions, or spawned by Hive or Deneb Warfare, will continue to have detection advantages. Others, like Strike Forces, are limited, but with ranges much larger than most.
• NPCs ignore mines more than 1000m away, in non-station sectors. This is a big deal for players wanting to actively lay mine-fields in locations where NPCs may be around. The NPCs will no longer actively clear minefields, unless they happen to stumble across it.
• NPC convoy escorts are more aggressive, more in keeping with what one might expect from them, and making for more interesting gameplay.
• Queens now attack fighters if they are attacked, or their escorts have been destroyed. They still prioritize capships.

Player Reputation & Ramifications

Building on the TempKoS changes from the last Newsletter, a number of updates have made factional ramifications more consistent and meaningful. Again, many player-submitted Suggestions here.

• Players can no longer dock to stations if they have weapon fire in-flight. This includes blasters, missiles, rockets, mines, etc. Conquerable stations and capships do not have this restriction.
• No-Fire Zone violations now cause Pillar of Society standing with the given faction to be reduced (by one point) to the top of Admire, after the TempKoS expires.
• Sectors with Ion Storms are now unmonitored, as the storm reasonably interferes with the ability to "monitor" the locale.
• Remote, player-owned capital ships are now correctly impacted by "TempKoS" states that are incurred by the owning player in other sectors.
• Fixed an issue where the Strike Force would ignore a player's capship when a TempKoS is placed on the player.

Some significant changes are included above, closing inconsistencies around enforcement (like remote capital ships); or mitigating relatively silly attack strategies, such as spamming homing-missiles while repeatedly docking-and-undocking from a station.

Enduring Content

As mentioned in prior Newsletters, Enduring content allows players to establish a kind of item-permanence in the game universe, as well as be able to accumulate a persistent event-history around Enduring items, and then trade the Enduring content with other players. Trident-class player-constructed capital ships were the first items that could be made Enduring.

Recent improvements include:

• Goliath-class player-owned capital ships may now be made Enduring.
• Enduring Titles now include a unique serial number per content type. You can now provably demonstrate how "early" your Enduring vessel is (or even the first of its kind?).
• Enduring Content History is now included in the /charinfo menu when targeting another player.
• If a player's "Named" capship is destroyed and is not Enduring, the name is reserved for 30 days for the player to use again, during which it may not be taken by another player.

List of Upcoming Events:

• May 23rd, 21:00 UTC (4pm Central) - Flag Battle #8 - Dev Hosted
• May 29th, 21:00 UTC (4pm Central) - Corporate Sector Run

Update History

Here's a recap of other updates, since the last Newsletter. As usual, this doesn't really represent "everything we've been doing", but it shows some of the player-visible changes that have been made, along with a few additional details about items listed above:

• Enduring Content is now sorted first in their respective lists.
• Warthog Mark IV hull armor increased from 10,000 to 10,500.
• New prototype UI for the Account Recovery menu available on Windows.
• Guild creation now persists across server restarts.
• Latos economy tweaked to allow a limited period of static-price trading, before low quantity concerns cause the station to begin raising prices. This will likely continue to be adjusted.
• Enduring Content missions now require the capship to be named.
• Capship 'attack', 'defend', and 'follow' targets need to be in the radar range of the capship.
• Capship 'attack' command should no longer cause the capship to back away.
• Added sorting options to the Keychain menu and the ability to delete multiple keys at once.
• Fixed more issues with capship 'attack' and 'defend' commands and they should stay within their weapon's firing range when attacking.
• Warning message regarding non-printable characters is no longer logged to the errors.log file.
• Fixed issue when attempting to enter a turret and launch from a capship at the same time.
• Fixed issue with Vulkan driver not using the correct window size when changing resolutions in window mode in Windows.
• Alt-Enter now works in the Vulkan driver in Windows.
• If the Vulkan driver crashes on Windows, the game will fail over to DirectX 11 the next time it is run.

..And many other changes.

Download the Game

You can install the game client for Android, iPhone and iPad, Samsung GearVR and Oculus Go, Google Daydream VR, as well as find the game on the Mac Store. Or, you can directly download the game installation for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

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