One of the most frequent complaints we get from new players regarding the graphics is the quality of robot animations. This has posed a big problem for a long time as creating a more complex animation system would require a lot of time, resources and client processing power we don't have. We finally came up with a workable solution for the issue and will gradually be rolling out new walk animations for the smaller robots, starting with the very first bot players encounter: the Arkhe.

Once we're done with the small robots we'll be looking at the big ones of course, which will need to be rolled out in a single, big patch - but that's still some time away.

And how does it compare? Let's have a look:

As some of you might know Perpetuum currently is running completely on shader model 2.0 shaders. This decision has been made a long while ago, when we only started out on the game, for several reasons:

  • We wanted to target as many people as we can.
  • We wanted to keep the required PC specs as low as we can.
  • We didn't have much experience with DirectX and wanted to start working in a smaller sandbox first.
  • With some work we managed to put everything we wanted visually into shader model 2.0 in the end.

We've reached the limits of shader model 2.0 a while ago, and the game really looks better than we would have ever thought. However at this point there's no real option for real visual upgrades without either switching to a higher shader model or going through significant hacks that reduce client performance and mess up the codebase.

This post is advance warning that we'll be changing the minimum requirement for Perpetuum from shader model 2.0 to shader model 3*. As the vast majority of you have hardware that supports SM3, the change will only affect a handful of players.

Do note that changing shader models isn't a silver bullet that will make the game look better magically overnight. This change is necessary in order for us to move the 3D engine forward to more current visual techniques and will take effect when we roll out the first such change, about a month from now to give proper warning. Initially the changes will focus on client performance as opposed to visual upgrades, and we'll gradually move to making things look better when we feel the client is performing well enough.

* For those who are not that tech-savvy, shader model 3 is supported by GPUs manufactured since around 2005, specifically the AMD/ATI X1000 series and above, and the nVidia GeForce 6 series and above. While the Intel GMA series GPUs do have SM3.0 to some extent, they are not officially supported.

Here we go with another update on the status of recent and upcoming changes. We're quite pleased to report that the latest patch resulted in a big increase in the stability of the server backend, and the random problems people have been experiencing prior to the patch will not be happening again.

Free trial

The biggest update coming with the weekend patch will be the official introduction of a 15 day free trial with each newly created account. Let's face it, the sun is setting for the obsolete trial codes. There is one less hurdle in the dash to the finish line, which is the starting grid of the Perpetuum adventure.

In order to shield the economy and the equal playing field from possible exploits caused by people creating large amounts of trial accounts, feature access will be limited in some forms. Trial players will not be able to trade items or NIC with other players and will not be able to join player corporations.

Please note, that along with the old trial codes, the recruit codes you may have received will also become invalid. If you have a recruit code lying around, time to blow the dust off it and get your BFF an early Christmas, while collecting your own 15 days of free game time.

Hotfix

We are working on hotfixes for the current problems (most notable of which are the chat issues) and we'll be rolling out the next patch sometime over the weekend.

Incoming new areas

We will effectively double the size of the game world with a patch planned for about a month from now. There will be six new islands, three safe and three free-for-all ones. At first the new areas will contain infrastructure, npcs and materials, with missions soon to follow. Intrusion events for the new bases on unsafe islands will be available immediately.

For the end, here's an image of a work in progress new plant:

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Let us know what you think of the changes in the comments!

Time to talk about the next update to Perpetuum, as per usual we have a few interesting changes and new features coming to the game.

First of all as I've written previously, we're updating the roaming NPC system. Roaming NPCs will travel in caravans around the islands, and we're adding new flocks of NPCs for more varied random encounters on the terrain. This is only a very first step in our plan to bring a whole bunch of new content to the game for more stuff to do "between PvP sessions". We'll be adding a whole lot of new features to this end in later updates, which will be revealed a bit later. Various areas of the terrain will go through some small rearranging in this patch. Changes include new decorations around teleport stations, terrain updates here and there, and even a teleport station moved a bit farther away from a terminal.

We're bringing in a feature that was originally suggested in a very early brainstorm by a player during the beta. We liked the idea very much and had everything ready for it for quite a while now, but other priorities meant that this had to wait. The paintjob on your robots will now get worn down gradually as you engage in combat. This change is only aesthetic and will be undone as soon as you pack your robot together, however it's a small thing you can brag about and show off.

So now for the more interesting updates :)

A new type of plant will make its debut with the coming update. The special thing about this plant is that on its own it won't be growing anywhere, it can only appear in the game world if players plant it. This plant will contain a new harvestable material for use in the manufacturing of high end items. Beware of people trying to harvest or even destroy your crops!

One of the most fixed things in Perpetuum up to now was the constant, fixed distance of 1000 meters players could see each other. The upcoming update changes this. First of all: how far you can see and how far you can be seen from will both vary based on the robot you use, and the two will not necessarily be the same anymore. This alone would be an interesting change, but we're also adding modules to help modify these values during gameplay: The detection type module will allow you to see farther away. The flare type module will make the target show up for people farther away. And of course, the stealth type module will allow you to be seen from a shorter distance. These changes will bring the PvP on the beta islands to a whole new level, and we're excited to see how players will be using the new features to give them a tactical edge over their enemy.

Let us know what you think about the upcoming update in the comments!

Some of you already know about this, we've been waiting with the official announcement until we knew the system was working glitch free.

We in the Perpetuum team realize that the strength of our current player-base comes from groups of friends forming communities inside the game. Perpetuum was built around the concept of people playing together, not simply next to each other in the same world. Because of this we wish all new players to experience team play as early on in the game as possible.

To this end we're very glad to announce the recruit program: players with active accounts who have subscribed for at least 30 days will be receiving recruit codes, which can be used to kickstart a new account. These codes can only be used on accounts on which no codes have been redeemed yet and give 15 days of play time.

Most importantly if the player decides to subscribe to the game for at least 30 days, the validity of the original account which received the recruit code will also be extended by 15 days. We're sending out recruit codes daily, and after a while we'll be giving you a code like this for each purchase. If you haven't received one yet, don't worry - it'll come in time.

Again, keep in mind that these codes can only be used on a new account. Invite your friends to try Perpetuum!