As of today we officially announced the release of Vendetta Online for Windows 8 (x86, x64) and Windows RT (ARM). The game is offered with support for traditional desktops and notebooks, hybrid Ultrabooks with touchscreens, as well as touch-only tablet devices, and can be found in the Windows Store. The Windows 8 build includes specialized support for the new Snapped and Filled screen configurations (as well as the usual full-screen mode), plus other specialized Windows 8 options. Ongoing improvements will continue as Windows 8 devices are released, but we're proud to see the game debut on a new platform.For more coverage of the launch, see Massively, The Verge, RageZone, Gamasutra, and others.
It has been recently reported that PlaySpan, a major credit card and payment clearinghouse commonly used in the MMO world, has suffered a serious security breach. Vendetta Online is largely unaffected by this issue.Our sole relationship with PlaySpan is their ownership of the PayByCash, who we offer as a payment option. However, using the PayByCash system only exposes the account name of the user, and never their password or any other information (much like PayPal and other systems). We do not share password data outside of our company. Ever.Users who paid via PayByCash could only be affected by this compromise if they chose to use the same password on both the PayByCash site as well as their Vendetta Online account. If that is the case, we recommend changing both to new and unique passwords as soon as possible.If you have never used PayByCash at all, there is no reason for concern.- Guild Software, Inc.
VO 1.8.230 includes:- New icons for mission categories.- New visual effects for the Charged Cannon.- Fixed Joystick calibration menu on Mac version.- Fixed crash on Android version when attemping to see what commands the accelerometer is bound to in the console.This update debuts the new icons for mission categories, which are intended to be stylistically consistent with those we recently added for station classes. The visual effects for the Charged Cannon have also been modestly improved. Moving forward, we'll be continuing to improve effects and other visual aspects, making more significant and graphically intensive improvements as time goes on.Gameplay changes and bugfixes are also coming, but are still being delayed by a need to wrap up some of the major architectural work we undertook this past summer. Hopefully the updated game engine will debut this coming week on a limited selection of platforms, bringing with it improved scalability, and openig the door for a lot of future gameplay, content, and graphical improvements.
VO 1.8.229 includes:- Added station type logos that indicate whether the station is a type: Capitol, Barracks, Mining, etc.- Added more default joystick configurations for the Android version.- When a player flying a capship times out, the players docked to it are no longer killed. They are now launched from the capship.Along with the new factional logos added recently, the new station class icons give a quick view of where you're docked, along with adding a little more cultural coherence to the game universe. We will be continuing to add this kind of art content over the coming months. Next week should include a new weapon effect, as well as a first-generation test of some major engine architecture changes.
VO 1.8.228 includes:- Added faction logos to the respective descriptions in the Faction Standings section of the PDA.- Added default binds to the Logitech F710 gamepad for Android.- Fixed possible crashes on Android Jelly Bean (requires Google Play or sideload apk update).We have more art content in the works that didn't make it into this version, which you can probably expect next week. As always, please let us know if any issues crop up.
VO 1.8.227 includes:- New minor faction logos in station menus.- Temp KOS for a faction was not being applied if it was already active for another faction.- Players who damage themselves and then get killed by someone else no longer get a PK assist.These new "minor" faction logos, for the corporations and other entities, help to build on the major nation logos we released last week. Beyond this, you'll soon see icons for station classes, as we expand our graphical content and tie that further into the general ongoing story of the galaxy.
VO 1.8.224 includes:- Enhanced ship explosion effects.- Snapdragon splashscreen is displayed when a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor is detected.- Fixed a lua error in the off-line Android demo/tutorial.- Preliminary backend support for Windows RT.Users should find that the most commonly-seen explosions, used for smaller fighter craft, hive ships and most NPCs, are now updated to a higher graphical standard. As we move forward we're going to continue tweaking and improving a lot of our graphics, with the goal of substantially improving the "look" of the game during this year. In some cases, that may result in specialized effects that only appear on PC platforms with faster videocards, where the mobile versions retain the older effects that are better suited to lower-performance devices. However, whenever we can we'll be raising the level of detail and polish across all platforms, as we have with this latest change.This update also mentions our upcoming support for Windows RT and Windows 8 Metro. While Vendetta Online had already been pretty widely reported as one of the demos on this platform, we've still had some ongoing development to prepare us for submission to the Microsoft Store and have the game appear on new Windows 8 devices. We'll go into a bit more more detail about our presence on Windows RT and Windows 8 in our next email newsletter.Until then, keep an eye out for new updates, and please post any issues you find on the forums. Thanks everyone.
VO 1.8.220 through 1.8.223 highlights included:- New accounts now are free to play in the training sectors until the trial time begins. The trial time begins the first time any of your characters leave the training sector.- Added an idle-timeout of 30 minutes and a captcha challenge every 6 hours in the training sectors for free-to-play accounts.- Added ability to enter promotional keys to the in-game new account signup menu for the Android version.- To reduce lag problems, the training sectors are now instanced when they fill up too many players or the load exceeds a certain value.- Fixed audio problems on Windows Vista/7 for surround or 7.1 (anything more than stereo) setups.- Your home station info is now properly updated when your home station is forcefully set by the server.- Added subscription support through the Google Play Store. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) or higher and an app update is required for full support.- It is now possible to create new accounts for the game within the game client on Android.- Fixes for the in-appp account creation captcha. It now uses lower-case letters.We've been quiet for the last few months. A lot of intensive development has been going on, which has not been public, and I've personally spent some time on business trips. The above touches on a few of the things we've released, but I want to go into a little more detail for those who haven't been following closely.Free to Play training sectors: Instead of starting the clock on the new user's trial from the moment they enter the game, we now start it when they leave the training sector. This gives them a less pressured experience for initially figuring things out, and hopefully will let them use their trial more effectively.The scalability changes (training sector instancing) are also paramount and should be very useful with launches coming later in the year.In other news, we've hired a new full-time artist, who is currently working on some new graphics and effects content for the game. It's my plan to revamp a lot of the game art, interface and effects this year.More announcements and releases are forthcoming, but for right now I'm just going to leave it at that and cover the recent history. As always, please post any issues you find on the forums. Have a great weekend, everyone.
VO 1.8.219 includes:- 'Entering Universe' takes time on your first post-release login, but is much faster from then on.- Fixed problem with leaving the gunnery position of a ship while that ship is docked to an npc capship. You are now sent to your home station.- Removed Voice Chat errors from in-game chat log. They now only appear in the errors.log file.- All finished Border and Hive Skirmishes should now be removed from the mission list. We still intend to improve the "initial" login length for new users, which currently downloads a lot of dynamic mission data. However, for our existing users this patch should be a major improvement.
VO 1.8.219 includes:- 'Entering Universe' takes time on your first post-release login, but is much faster from then on.- Fixed problem with leaving the gunnery position of a ship while that ship is docked to an npc capship. You are now sent to your home station.- Removed Voice Chat errors from in-game chat log. They now only appear in the errors.log file.- All finished Border and Hive Skirmishes should now be removed from the mission list. We still intend to improve the "initial" login length for new users, which currently downloads a lot of dynamic mission data. However, for our existing users this patch should be a major improvement.