PROJECT ENTROPIA VERSION UPDATE 5.2

2003-10-15

*** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING STRANGE
IN PROJECT ENTROPIA! IT MIGHT PROVIDE THE INFO YOU NEED BEFORE
CONTACTING PROJECT ENTROPIA SUPPORT! ***

General Information
The Version Update 5.2 ("VU
5.2") for Project Entropia is a major step in the development of
Project Entropia. Information about the content of the version update
is located in this document.

VERSION UPDATE FEATURES

SYSTEM UPGRADES

Item Management System
The Item Management
System of Project Entropia has been extensively upgraded. This means
that the internal system handling all items and transactions has been
upgraded, to increase performance and to reduce the number of issues
occurring in regards to item manipulation.

As Project Entropia is built to utilize maximum security, all item
manipulation and trades are conducted on the secure server, before the
client shows what's going on (the Project Entropia client does not hold
any vital data whatsoever). This has sometimes caused confusion, as the
client predicts actions. These predictions have sometimes shown
incorrectly on the client, even though everything is perfectly okay on
the server. The most common area where misunderstandings occur is the
shown ammunition when quickly logging off and logging on again.

One obvious change is that the participant may notice some of his or
her items become "faded" into a blue-gray icon when moved. This means
that the item is currently being handled by the server and cannot be
manipulated until the server says so. This has always been the case,
but before it was not shown to the participant.

Inventory
The inventory functions have been
revamped. One of the areas that has been an issue for participants
using slow connections is synching of items between the Project
Entropia Servers and the client software on the participant's own
computer. The major reason for participants' timing-out, crashing,
starting with "no inventory in newbie clothes", etc was due to the
sheer number of items in the avatar inventory. Even though no real
problems were derived from this, it caused confusion. Therefore, we
have made several upgrades to reduce this behavior.

One major change is the introduction of "container" items, which are
boxes, cases, chests, etc in which items are stored. The system only
synchs items between the server and client that are in the currently
used container, meaning that a participant will not experience long
load times while logging onto Project Entropia, but will experience
somewhat longer load time while manipulating cases of different kinds,
as the containers are synched when accessed. With the containers, the
synching of items has been distributed to many different areas, instead
of one giant area. Please feel free to put seldom-used items in a
special container and leave them be - then that container won't use
your connection or disturb your load times.

In future releases more types of containers will be implemented,
even such that will bring a reduction to the weight carried in it. At
the moment a participant cannot drag items to a closed container, but
must open it to place items inside.

An inventory can at most show 500 items. More items than that in an
inventory will render the additional items invisible. MindArk strongly
recommends that participants restrain themselves to have inventories
with max 200 items. More items will cause performance hits on you, loss
of connection and possibly other strange effects, especially if you
have a lesser connection (below 2Mbit) or have an ISP of lesser quality.

Auction
The auction system is completely redone
to eliminate the issues with "stuck items". Also, the interface has
been redone to utilize for much meaner and leaner operations. The new
auction has a fee of one PED for each item put on the auction, to
reduce "Spam". When VU 5.2 is applied, all current bids are nullified
and returned, and all items offered are also returned to respective
participant. The new auction will therefore be completely empty
directly after the VU 5.2 is applied.

Another area that is upgraded is how transactions in the auction are
handled. Instead of the participant needing to visit the auctioneer to
get the latest info, all such messages are handled in real time. If a
participant is offline, the message will be stored until he or she logs
on again. All money is also transferred the moment a change occurs. The
only thing that has to be manually collected is an item won.

Crafting
As stated above, the major reason for
having performance problems is due to a high number of items. One of
the most cumbersome areas is crafting, or more specifically, the
blueprints. Therefore there have been changes to the crafting system.
The number of unique blueprints has been reduced to about half, and
some crafting categories have disappeared (Tool, Weapon, Armor, and
Attachment Components, and Tailoring Materials) completely. The
associated skills have also been removed. Some skills have also changed
name (the old "Assembling" skills are now called "Manufacturing"
instead, and the old "Manufacturing"-skill are removed). Those who have
blueprints and/or skills in these areas should read the "Compensation"
section, below, before contacting MindArk.

The crafting system overall has been changed in that way that there
are no longer any overlaps between lootable items and craftable items.
All craftable items are craftable only. Therefore, a whole range of new
craftable items is introduced. With this, several new minerals and
EnMatters have been introduced as well.

Tailoring now works more like the rest of crafting. You have a raw
material; you use a refiner on it and get a refined piece of material
you can use together with a blueprint to make clothes.

The Manufacturing Interface is also revamped, and more logical than
before. The participant is also informed on the relative chance of
success, based on skills, blueprint QR and the level of difficulty.

Overall, the crafting system is somewhat easier to manage, with fewer steps needed from start to finish.

We are very much aware of that this is a major change and can feel
like a letdown for some participants. This simply had to be done;
otherwise the crafting area of Project Entropia would hamper
performance across the board for every participant.

Compensation
There is an automatic compensation
system in place when you load up Project Entropia the first time after
the VU. If you are entitled to any compensation you will receive
messages to that effect. Obsolete blueprints and components will be
changed to current blueprints (with QR 1) and into minerals.
Items/money stuck in the auction will be returned to your personal
storage facility. Also, those affected by lost Quality Rating
(including QR on converted blueprints) will be reimbursed for this, in
a compensation system, where the participant can select which kind of
compensation he or she desires. In this compensation system obsolete
skills are also taken in consideration.

PCGamer Quest
Those participants that joined
Project Entropia through the client distributed on the PCGamer (US)
edition also have a special quest available.

MIXED FIXES/UPGRADES

In no particular order:

If you lose connection to the chat server the system automatically
tries to re-logon, without the need to re-logon Project Entropia.

Added a connection indicator in the client. A three-lights display
is located by the radar. If the load is light, they are green. If the
load is heavy, it changes to yellow, and if the load is high, it
changes to red. This display is updated a couple of times per minute.

Added functionality to the Friends-list, indicating when friends come on- and offline.

Added new, more Asian looking face textures to Avatar Creation Interface.

Upgraded the performance substantially in the Fast key Interface.

Added new music and sounds.

"Nothing to loot here" - The frequency is reduced, but you will still encounter critters with no loot. It's not a bug.

Updated an instance where client-to-client synch mismatched in PvP Trade.

The Hadesheim Siren is now silenced when no attacks are in progress.

Updated functions when stacks are split, to show more accurate info in the client.

Update the servers extensively to reduce lag and performance slowdowns.

Several new items added, especially high-level equipment.

T-key changed to move stuck avatars to a random location, instead of a fixed.

Fixed so newbie clothes should not multiply.

Fixed an issue with claim deeds not being removed after deposit was depleted.

Updated the defense turrets.

Updated that both parties engaging in a PvP Chat gets automatic focus in the Chat window.

Fixed an issue with blueprints weighing double if inserted into a blueprint book.

Fixed an issue with items picked up from the ground weighing incorrect.

Fixed a minor issue with the selected title being reset to the top one in the Avatar Information interface with each login.

Fixed an issue with being able to vote multiple times in the Vote Booth.

Fixed an issue where uncolored clothes could not be used in the Coloring Interface.

Further secured the Trade Terminal Interface.

Upgraded how the teleporters behave if the system is under heavy load.

Upgraded the looks and functionality on the various Loot Interfaces.

Empty blueprints books are now sellable.

Fixed issues in the Repair Interface when using the quick-buttons (not making items un-accessible anymore).

Quality Rating on Blueprints associated with Value, meaning that
Value will rise with higher QR, to the max of one PED at QR 100.

Fixed an issue with a full inventory covering buttons in the auction.

Fixed an issue with current value/condition not always showing the correct amount in the auction.

Several upgrades of functionality in the PvP Trade Interface, most
noticeably the removal of "Cancel" functionality once "Accept" is
pressed. You may however cancel once the order confirmation is
presented.

Clothes and armor with a value/condition of zero are not wearable (exception: newbie clothes).

The autofire bug (the weapon could uncontrollably fire due to an ALT+TAB change) is eliminated.

Fixed an issue with the PED Card while withdrawing PEC, making the PED Card crash.

Fixed an issue with ever-active decoys.

Corrected a client bug when merging two full stacks, one stack would go missing.

Corrected some tool tip errors.

Added more detailed error messages for rarer instances.

Fixed an old issue that allowed avatars to chat even while dead using the Focus button.

Fixed various graphical glitches.

An avatar should only have one set of newbie clothes.

Many items have enhanced looks in Items Info view port.

Fixed a potential issue with the mouse pointer focus changing when
someone requests a PVP Trade or PvP Chat. The pointer does not
automatically change to pointer mode now.

Fixed "leveling" of blueprint books (visual leveling).

Enhanced the Trivia/Background info.

Enhanced the messaging when leaving/entering PvP zones, to ensure the message is displayed.

Fixed the prefix elimination on "Uncolored" clothes when colored.

Fixed an issue with commands being sent to the Main Chat instead of the PvP Chat.

Fixed an issue with NPCs just spinning round and round.

Rebalanced success rates while crafting and mining. Generally you
will succeed with your action more often, but the output value is
reduced.

Rebalanced skill advancement. Several skills now have a higher
increase rate, mostly those that have less skill checks per time frame.
This mostly affects mining and crafting, and does not affect hunting
much.

Update to the PvP Chat informing the other party when the first party left the chat.

Fixed so the Avatar busy message is shown correctly.

Updated the boxing ring bell to have a two second delay.

KNOWN ISSUES/MISSING FEATURES

In no particular order

You can't repair a weapon with attachments attached to it. You have to detach them prior to repairing.

Currently, the virtual companies on the Exchange don't offer any shares.

The drill tower cannot be accessed. The minerals within it will be transferred to the avatar's Personal Storage Facility.

Sometimes attachments may detach from a weapon when logging on.

The Team chat is not always initiated when the Team Leader invites the first member.

_________________

Regards

-Marco Behrmann

-PE Community Manager

-MindArk PE AB

=====================================

Mini Patches

=====================================