Forums » General
Re: Newsletter: details on planned interface changes?
I realize that you guys probably haven't finalized your ideas for the upcoming interface changes yet, but when you do will you post an update as to what they are and how they might affect plugin usage or the API (if at all)?
Also, this is probably way out of the scope of the upcoming changes, but it would be nice to see an update to iup version 3.2. <3
(There was a newsletter email sent out last night, for those wondering what I'm talking about).
Also, this is probably way out of the scope of the upcoming changes, but it would be nice to see an update to iup version 3.2. <3
(There was a newsletter email sent out last night, for those wondering what I'm talking about).
I didn't get it :/
I actually only got it on one of my random accounts that I completely forgot about.
Nebraska Furniture Mart is the only place I shop. It is my one stop shop for all my everyday needs, like furniture. Cause you can never have too much furniture. Just ask your grandmother.
I haven't gotten a newsletter since May 1...
I'll copy-paste it to here, if you guys want...
Please do.
Hello slime, welcome to the seventh official Vendetta Online Newsletter!
You are receiving this due to prior interest in our game, with the
account: "slime". If you would prefer to not receive these emails,
see the bottom of this message for a very simple and permanent way to
unsubscribe, or to recover your account password. If this email is
unwanted, we're very sorry to have bothered you.
*Upcoming Events*
There will be a special developer-run event on Saturday, July 17th, at
5PM CST, 23:00 UTC. Unique prizes may be expected. More details will be
posted to the forums, as well as the in-game event system, as the date
approaches. Notices will also go out via Twitter, RSS, and Facebook.
*Recent Changes*
Although barely two months have elapsed since the last Newsletter, some
major changes have taken place:
- Vendetta Online for Android! -
Android(tm) is an operating system produced by Google, for use on
smartphones and other mobile devices, popularly associated with the
Motorola "Droid" phone. In truth, Android represents an entire mobile
platform, for which a whole new generation of devices, from phones to
tablets to netbooks, will be appearing towards the end of this year.
Imagine being able to play Vendetta Online, over a 3G network, using a
compact little tablet with extreme battery life. This will soon be a
reality.
Since April, we've been working with Nvidia, the storied manufacturer of
gaming hardware for the PC (and the original Xbox) to bring our game to
Android(tm) on Nvidia's new Tegra(tm) chip. The Tegra is what really
made this portable gaming experience possible; it's the first chip we've
seen that has the horsepower to run a relatively intensive PC game,
while also keeping the power usage low enough to make the mobility
worthwhile.
After seeing a demo of the Tegra at the Game Developers Conference back
in March, it became apparent to me that super-light mobile devices
capable of running truly modern games were finally about to arrive.
Vendetta Online for Android/Tegra is no dumbed-down version, it will
participate in exactly the same persistent universe as all other builds,
and thus far with very playable performance. We may be the first
traditional, client/server 3D MMO to do a native port to a mobile device
of this sort, and we're very excited for the prospects of this new
gaming space.
The Android build is not yet publicly available, and there is still work
yet to be done (mostly on the user interface, for tablets), but the new
game version should debut this fall. We privately demonstrated the game,
while connected live to the production game universe, for select OEMs
and cellular carriers at E3 2010. More details are available here:
http://www.vendetta-online.com/android/
..and in our press release of a few weeks back:
http://www.guildsoftware.com/android.html
..or simply Google for 'vendetta android' (without quotes) and see a
wide variety of press coverage.
- Economic Changes -
We've made some significant improvements to the layout of the galactic
economy; almost every trade item in the galaxy has been modified in some
way. A large number of new routes have been added between nation and
grayspace, as well as between major nations. Bounceback rates on many
routes have been drastically shortened, making for some very lucrative
options with higher risk, and still-improved options for longer trade
runs at lower risk.
Certain bot processor cores also now carry high value at Research
stations. Work on all of this will be ongoing, along with upcoming
changes to the Convoy Escort missions.
- Game Cards -
We have partnered with InComm's subsidiary, Zeevex(tm), to help bring
game card support to Vendetta Online, purchasable from over 31,000
retail locations in the United States, and expanding worldwide. If you
don't have a credit card or PayPal, this will be a convenient way to
subscribe to our game. Billing support for Zeevex has not yet been
completed, but should be available within the next month. Once in place,
we'll also be rolling out some special promotions on content via the
Zeevex Locker. See the press release here:
http://tinyurl.com/2aa2947
This is added to our existing support of Ultimate Game Card (PayByCash)
already available in over 20,000 US locations. Between the two of them,
this covers a very large variety of US and international retailers:
Walmart, Walgreens, Best Buy, 7-11, GameStop/EB, BlockBuster,
SuperAmerica, Speedway, Toys-R-Us, and many others (such as.. "Nebraska
Furniture Mart". Seriously!)
*Development Status and Upcoming Changes*
I should start by saying that the opportunities brought about by the
Android/Tegra version, over the last few months, have taken some time
from other (previously planned) development. As a result of our place on
the forefront of mobile game development, we have gotten face time with
many of the largest consumer electronics and telecom companies in the
world, some of which have shown interest in our title. While we remain
very cautiously optimistic, this has great potential for our game, and I
feel the need to explain this specifically, to offset some of the areas
of improvement where I have failed to deliver over the past couple of
months.
First and foremost, I said that I would (personally) bring about public
access to our game's ongoing design documentation and ticket system (the
"Trac"), originally in April, and then later in May. Neither have come
to pass, and I apologize for this. With some of the E3 "crunch" now
behind us, however, I am happy to getting back to this and other
gameplay-related development. Since I have promised two different dates
in two different newsletters so far, and blown both of them, I won't
promise another one at this time, but I will say this:
It is imperative for us to publicly release our development direction,
via the Trac system, within the next couple of months. We are looking
for a lot of areas of development to come together sometime before fall,
when we expect the Android/Tegra devices to begin showing up on the
market. Demonstrating the cohesive roadmap for the long-term future of
the game, both for our existing users and our new ones, is a critical
aspect of that plan.
- Game Polish and Content -
We will be focusing a lot of energy on cleaning up certain areas of the
game. Fixing long-broken content, or improving other bits that work but
should really work a lot better. You will also be seeing a number of
missions being added, and a bigger focus on multi-player missions and
content.
There will almost certainly be some interface changes. Perhaps not a
complete and total reworking, but some changes. These will be partially
to help people using touch-screen devices like tablets, and partially to
improve existing situations that we all know are not ideal. Our
user-interface development is based on continually adding all of the
"stuff" related to our new features, and then re-designing it every
couple of years to make those new elements more cohesive. At this point,
we're a couple of years overdue for an interface update.
By and large, however, most of our work will focus on gameplay polish
and content. We've spent a tremendous amount of time over the past few
years developing the back-end to be able to handle big capship battles
and large automated "wars" played out with both "real" players and NPCs.
It's time to fire up all those engines and start pushing some real
content through them. Station conquest, hives, border skirmish, border
patrol, even old CtC.. these have all been pencil sketch marks on a
galactic canvas; it's time to get out the oil paints. The faction,
universe and economy stuff I have gone on about ad nauseam in past
newsletters, I'll spare you any more on that, and simply say you may log
in one day soon and find that Stuff Is Suddenly A Lot Different.
I will be personally playing the game a lot more, although mostly incognito.
- New Website -
We have a new website in process. I'm not going to say much more than
that right now, except that so far it looks a hell of a lot cooler than
the one we've all known for the last decade. It is far more modern and
futuristic, I dig it. Much like the game-polish paragraph above, we'll
be looking to polish the site as well, in look, layout and purpose.
Expect to see character content come together in more singular
locations, with a given entry point fanning out into a broader array of
information; as opposed to the current ad-hoc assortment of stats that
are scattered across the site. Probably not a -lot- of change to the
forums, but a few things that are sorely needed, as time allows. The
game takes priority, but we'll be shining things up whereever we can.
- Secondary Effects of the Android Version -
Some of the work that you'll be seeing, or have recently seen, directly
bears on the realities of porting our game to the Tegra, Android, or
mobile devices in general. This includes features such as an upcoming
"fast fog" implementation, a slightly lower-detail, but functionally
equal implementation of the fogging we use for Ion Storms (soon to
become very rare), and statically/dynamically fogged sectors (soon to
mostly replace Ion Storms). People on slower machines have complained
about fog for years, this should help; a cool by-product of the mobile
version. We've also made a lot of small tweaks and improvements to some
of the lower-end settings, and have created a new OpenGL ES 2.0 driver
for the game. This may eventually become available on all platforms, as
there are industry plans to make ES 2.0 a "standard" API on Windows, Mac
and Linux, in addition to "regular" OpenGL. The existence of the OpenGL
ES driver also opens up the possibility of future mobile ports, such as
the iPad, but nothing can be promised yet (there are a variety of
technical caveats, beyond the scope of this newsletter).
- That's all for Now -
Actions speak louder than words, as they say, and we have a lot of
action coming up. Thanks to everyone for their support and patience over
the years. It's only because of our supportive userbase that we're able
to take advantage of opportunities like emerging mobile platforms;
things which hold great potential for our game, and even for MMO gaming
as a whole.
*Keep in Touch*
As always, stay up to date with the latest in VO news via our many outlets -
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vendetta-Online/112211466226
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/VendettaOnline
RSS/Atom of VO News:
http://www.vendetta-online.com/h/news.html
VO YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Vendetta0nline
You are receiving this due to prior interest in our game, with the
account: "slime". If you would prefer to not receive these emails,
see the bottom of this message for a very simple and permanent way to
unsubscribe, or to recover your account password. If this email is
unwanted, we're very sorry to have bothered you.
*Upcoming Events*
There will be a special developer-run event on Saturday, July 17th, at
5PM CST, 23:00 UTC. Unique prizes may be expected. More details will be
posted to the forums, as well as the in-game event system, as the date
approaches. Notices will also go out via Twitter, RSS, and Facebook.
*Recent Changes*
Although barely two months have elapsed since the last Newsletter, some
major changes have taken place:
- Vendetta Online for Android! -
Android(tm) is an operating system produced by Google, for use on
smartphones and other mobile devices, popularly associated with the
Motorola "Droid" phone. In truth, Android represents an entire mobile
platform, for which a whole new generation of devices, from phones to
tablets to netbooks, will be appearing towards the end of this year.
Imagine being able to play Vendetta Online, over a 3G network, using a
compact little tablet with extreme battery life. This will soon be a
reality.
Since April, we've been working with Nvidia, the storied manufacturer of
gaming hardware for the PC (and the original Xbox) to bring our game to
Android(tm) on Nvidia's new Tegra(tm) chip. The Tegra is what really
made this portable gaming experience possible; it's the first chip we've
seen that has the horsepower to run a relatively intensive PC game,
while also keeping the power usage low enough to make the mobility
worthwhile.
After seeing a demo of the Tegra at the Game Developers Conference back
in March, it became apparent to me that super-light mobile devices
capable of running truly modern games were finally about to arrive.
Vendetta Online for Android/Tegra is no dumbed-down version, it will
participate in exactly the same persistent universe as all other builds,
and thus far with very playable performance. We may be the first
traditional, client/server 3D MMO to do a native port to a mobile device
of this sort, and we're very excited for the prospects of this new
gaming space.
The Android build is not yet publicly available, and there is still work
yet to be done (mostly on the user interface, for tablets), but the new
game version should debut this fall. We privately demonstrated the game,
while connected live to the production game universe, for select OEMs
and cellular carriers at E3 2010. More details are available here:
http://www.vendetta-online.com/android/
..and in our press release of a few weeks back:
http://www.guildsoftware.com/android.html
..or simply Google for 'vendetta android' (without quotes) and see a
wide variety of press coverage.
- Economic Changes -
We've made some significant improvements to the layout of the galactic
economy; almost every trade item in the galaxy has been modified in some
way. A large number of new routes have been added between nation and
grayspace, as well as between major nations. Bounceback rates on many
routes have been drastically shortened, making for some very lucrative
options with higher risk, and still-improved options for longer trade
runs at lower risk.
Certain bot processor cores also now carry high value at Research
stations. Work on all of this will be ongoing, along with upcoming
changes to the Convoy Escort missions.
- Game Cards -
We have partnered with InComm's subsidiary, Zeevex(tm), to help bring
game card support to Vendetta Online, purchasable from over 31,000
retail locations in the United States, and expanding worldwide. If you
don't have a credit card or PayPal, this will be a convenient way to
subscribe to our game. Billing support for Zeevex has not yet been
completed, but should be available within the next month. Once in place,
we'll also be rolling out some special promotions on content via the
Zeevex Locker. See the press release here:
http://tinyurl.com/2aa2947
This is added to our existing support of Ultimate Game Card (PayByCash)
already available in over 20,000 US locations. Between the two of them,
this covers a very large variety of US and international retailers:
Walmart, Walgreens, Best Buy, 7-11, GameStop/EB, BlockBuster,
SuperAmerica, Speedway, Toys-R-Us, and many others (such as.. "Nebraska
Furniture Mart". Seriously!)
*Development Status and Upcoming Changes*
I should start by saying that the opportunities brought about by the
Android/Tegra version, over the last few months, have taken some time
from other (previously planned) development. As a result of our place on
the forefront of mobile game development, we have gotten face time with
many of the largest consumer electronics and telecom companies in the
world, some of which have shown interest in our title. While we remain
very cautiously optimistic, this has great potential for our game, and I
feel the need to explain this specifically, to offset some of the areas
of improvement where I have failed to deliver over the past couple of
months.
First and foremost, I said that I would (personally) bring about public
access to our game's ongoing design documentation and ticket system (the
"Trac"), originally in April, and then later in May. Neither have come
to pass, and I apologize for this. With some of the E3 "crunch" now
behind us, however, I am happy to getting back to this and other
gameplay-related development. Since I have promised two different dates
in two different newsletters so far, and blown both of them, I won't
promise another one at this time, but I will say this:
It is imperative for us to publicly release our development direction,
via the Trac system, within the next couple of months. We are looking
for a lot of areas of development to come together sometime before fall,
when we expect the Android/Tegra devices to begin showing up on the
market. Demonstrating the cohesive roadmap for the long-term future of
the game, both for our existing users and our new ones, is a critical
aspect of that plan.
- Game Polish and Content -
We will be focusing a lot of energy on cleaning up certain areas of the
game. Fixing long-broken content, or improving other bits that work but
should really work a lot better. You will also be seeing a number of
missions being added, and a bigger focus on multi-player missions and
content.
There will almost certainly be some interface changes. Perhaps not a
complete and total reworking, but some changes. These will be partially
to help people using touch-screen devices like tablets, and partially to
improve existing situations that we all know are not ideal. Our
user-interface development is based on continually adding all of the
"stuff" related to our new features, and then re-designing it every
couple of years to make those new elements more cohesive. At this point,
we're a couple of years overdue for an interface update.
By and large, however, most of our work will focus on gameplay polish
and content. We've spent a tremendous amount of time over the past few
years developing the back-end to be able to handle big capship battles
and large automated "wars" played out with both "real" players and NPCs.
It's time to fire up all those engines and start pushing some real
content through them. Station conquest, hives, border skirmish, border
patrol, even old CtC.. these have all been pencil sketch marks on a
galactic canvas; it's time to get out the oil paints. The faction,
universe and economy stuff I have gone on about ad nauseam in past
newsletters, I'll spare you any more on that, and simply say you may log
in one day soon and find that Stuff Is Suddenly A Lot Different.
I will be personally playing the game a lot more, although mostly incognito.
- New Website -
We have a new website in process. I'm not going to say much more than
that right now, except that so far it looks a hell of a lot cooler than
the one we've all known for the last decade. It is far more modern and
futuristic, I dig it. Much like the game-polish paragraph above, we'll
be looking to polish the site as well, in look, layout and purpose.
Expect to see character content come together in more singular
locations, with a given entry point fanning out into a broader array of
information; as opposed to the current ad-hoc assortment of stats that
are scattered across the site. Probably not a -lot- of change to the
forums, but a few things that are sorely needed, as time allows. The
game takes priority, but we'll be shining things up whereever we can.
- Secondary Effects of the Android Version -
Some of the work that you'll be seeing, or have recently seen, directly
bears on the realities of porting our game to the Tegra, Android, or
mobile devices in general. This includes features such as an upcoming
"fast fog" implementation, a slightly lower-detail, but functionally
equal implementation of the fogging we use for Ion Storms (soon to
become very rare), and statically/dynamically fogged sectors (soon to
mostly replace Ion Storms). People on slower machines have complained
about fog for years, this should help; a cool by-product of the mobile
version. We've also made a lot of small tweaks and improvements to some
of the lower-end settings, and have created a new OpenGL ES 2.0 driver
for the game. This may eventually become available on all platforms, as
there are industry plans to make ES 2.0 a "standard" API on Windows, Mac
and Linux, in addition to "regular" OpenGL. The existence of the OpenGL
ES driver also opens up the possibility of future mobile ports, such as
the iPad, but nothing can be promised yet (there are a variety of
technical caveats, beyond the scope of this newsletter).
- That's all for Now -
Actions speak louder than words, as they say, and we have a lot of
action coming up. Thanks to everyone for their support and patience over
the years. It's only because of our supportive userbase that we're able
to take advantage of opportunities like emerging mobile platforms;
things which hold great potential for our game, and even for MMO gaming
as a whole.
*Keep in Touch*
As always, stay up to date with the latest in VO news via our many outlets -
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vendetta-Online/112211466226
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/VendettaOnline
RSS/Atom of VO News:
http://www.vendetta-online.com/h/news.html
VO YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Vendetta0nline
just hit my inbox
hey nebraska furniture mart even has their own website and an advertising spot in the google search bar
http://www.nfm.com/default.aspx
oh also is this new zeevex thing cheaper or the same as the ultimate gamer card
http://www.nfm.com/default.aspx
oh also is this new zeevex thing cheaper or the same as the ultimate gamer card
"That's all for Now"
omg.... did that statement come like 12 paragraphs too late or what?
omg.... did that statement come like 12 paragraphs too late or what?
Once in place, we'll also be rolling out some special promotions on content via the Zeevex Locker.
What do you mean special promotions on content?
Why ppl who pay via paypal or creditcard won't get special promotions on content? Moneys are moneys whatever form you get them. Or paypal grabs too big %?
Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man's world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
What do you mean special promotions on content?
Why ppl who pay via paypal or creditcard won't get special promotions on content? Moneys are moneys whatever form you get them. Or paypal grabs too big %?
Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man's world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
What do you mean special promotions on content?
Eh, I just meant we'll try to roll some special promos for them. I don't know exactly what. We might eventually do some sort of special item or.. something. Or it could just be a special temporary "deal" when it goes live. I'm not sure and it is not at the forefront of my mind right now.
I realize that you guys probably haven't finalized your ideas for the upcoming interface changes yet, but when you do will you post an update as to what they are and how they might affect plugin usage or the API (if at all)?
..sure. When we get closer, we'll post about it. Also, we may never update IUP. We don't exactly use IUP.. it started as that, but Ray modified it a great deal, to the point where it's practically something else now. The modifications are fundamental enough to be pretty challenging to back-propagate into a "newer" version of IUP. Time consuming anyway, and not worth it unless there's some significant advantage to us.
Did everyone with the box checked receive the newsletter in their email? It went out in multiple stages, but I think everyone should get it by tonight at least.
Eh, I just meant we'll try to roll some special promos for them. I don't know exactly what. We might eventually do some sort of special item or.. something. Or it could just be a special temporary "deal" when it goes live. I'm not sure and it is not at the forefront of my mind right now.
I realize that you guys probably haven't finalized your ideas for the upcoming interface changes yet, but when you do will you post an update as to what they are and how they might affect plugin usage or the API (if at all)?
..sure. When we get closer, we'll post about it. Also, we may never update IUP. We don't exactly use IUP.. it started as that, but Ray modified it a great deal, to the point where it's practically something else now. The modifications are fundamental enough to be pretty challenging to back-propagate into a "newer" version of IUP. Time consuming anyway, and not worth it unless there's some significant advantage to us.
Did everyone with the box checked receive the newsletter in their email? It went out in multiple stages, but I think everyone should get it by tonight at least.
Received, probably in the first wave.
Got the email, curious on interface changes. Wishing connections between systems were rearranged to encourage player interaction more and reduced travel time.
Did everyone with the box checked receive the newsletter in their email? It went out in multiple stages, but I think everyone should get it by tonight at least.
Interestingly enough, I've gotten newsletters in the past. I didn't receive this one. Checked my account settings, "Yes, I want to subscribe to the Vendetta Online Update/Event email list" was unchecked. So, I guess it was broke, now it's fixed :)
Interestingly enough, I've gotten newsletters in the past. I didn't receive this one. Checked my account settings, "Yes, I want to subscribe to the Vendetta Online Update/Event email list" was unchecked. So, I guess it was broke, now it's fixed :)
The box is checked in my account info (has been) and I have not gotten the newsletter.
ShankTank, our log says the newsletter was sent to your email address. Maybe it got filtered as spam?
Thanks for the reminder about the update subscription checkbox. I think there was a newsletter sent out before too, that I didn't get and I was worried as to why. Likewise with this recent newsletter.
Box is checked now!
Box is checked now!