Entropia Universe

From uvvy

I got an Entropia Universe account and am exploring the world. I took the same avatar name that I use in Second Life, so I am Giulio Perhaps in Entropia Universe (nicknamed gp). My Entropia address is address is: Billton Towers 3, 5A - it is the tower closest to the Billton Towers teleport.

Entropia Universe is something halfway between Second Life and a FPS or action videogame such as Half Life 2 or SiN (see Game_engines).

Like Second Life, Entropia Universe is a massively multiplayer persistent VR world. The client can be downloaded with all textures, sounds and 3D models needed - the size of the download is about 1 G. When there is a new version, the client is updated automatically. The graphical quality is significantly better than Second Life, but not as good as Half Life 2. Though it is possible to craft items, there are no worldbuilding features comparable to Second Life.

The game is open-ended and there is no fixed objective. In this respect, it should be classified as an adventure and exploration game set in a large VR world. There is some action, for example the player may have to fight native animals, but action is not as central to the game as it is in FPS videogames. Playing Entropia Universe is free - the business model of MindArk is to sell in-world products and services to advanced gamers. Players can make deposit to their Entropia accounts with a credit card, and withdraw money from their accounts. The currency unit is called PED (1 US$ = 10 PED). Players can use a spacial ATM cash card to withdraw cash from their Entropia accounts. The virtual economy of Entropia Univense is booming, see links below.

From the website: The Entropia Universe (produced by MindArk) is a massive online Virtual Universe. Set in a distant Sci-Fi future, participants assume the roles of colonists who must develop the untamed planet of Calypso. Populated with fierce and dangerous creatures, the perilous wilderness on Calypso is also rich in minerals and ore, both of which can be a lucrative source of income for would-be colonists. The Real Cash Economy means that the Entropia Universe currency, the PED, is connected to the real world economy through a fixed exchange rate with the US dollar, where 10 PED = 1US$.

Entropia Universe is based on the game engine gamebryo developed by Emergent Game Technologies.

Crash tutorial

Download client and install. The client will update automatically to future releases.

Movement: like in most videogames, w a s d, q for running.

Press z to see through your avatar eyes. Press z again to see your avatar (point of view behind avatar).

Press space to switch to mouselook mode (moving the mouse looks around). Press space again to go back to standard mode (cursor to point and click). In standard mode, left clicking causes your avatar to go to the point clicked.

In summary: press z and space for a user interface similar to that of most videogames.

Press enter to activate chat mode (you can tipe in the chat window).

There are teleport points but you can use one only after having been there already, so you must run to a teleport point to be allowed to teleport there in the future. From Port Atlantis, I ran to Billy's Spaceship place (picture below) by following the instructions given here. Now that I have been at Billy's I can teleport there.

Then I went to Camp Phoenix (picture below).

After many hops and dangers I reached the capital city Hadesheim.

Remember that in Entropia Universe the basic right to be there is free, but everything else costs money. You can earn money in-world, and if you don't want to wait until you earn money you can deposit money on your account. This is what I did to get new clothes to wear instead of the default orange jumpsuit. My avatar is in the picture below.

The picture is taken in the art gallery of New Oxford. New Oxford is a recent addition to Entropia Universe - meant as a cultural and business center instead of a hunting and shooting ground. I will set my base here. The art gallery sells art - for example the rightmost picture has a limited edition of 3 and costs about 500 dollars.