Hello there.

Hello, I am Travis (LordVe on the Forums.)

I am the Lead Programmer for Divergence, and the one you all need to take your ire out on.  It is my insistence that the Game is Stable before we allow players in, it is never fun to see all your hard work disappear due to a bug.  You will have to forgive yet another Soon^TM, but it will be Soon^TM.  With great luck, it will be Really Soon^TM.  We are not far off from being able to allow all the wonderful backers in to play around, you will be rather amazed with the game when you do. I would love to follow Ethan's Example and show some Nice screenshots, or give Detailed information, but I can't since it would ruin the surprise. Just know, we are working as hard and as fast as we possibly can and will give you what information we can.

I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I hope to see you all in game soon.

Community Input: Tell Us What Tattoos and Markings You'd Like To See!

As we we begin to tie together the finishing touches to the limits of our customizability we're at the point just beyond things like eyebrows where bodily markings are getting realized. while putting together all the existing ideas and turning them into usage tattoos, birthmarks, and other designs in the game I thought it might be fun to give the community a chance to get involved and recommend a few designs they'd like to see in the game if possible. I'll be posting this on the official forums hopefully today where people can post images they've either made or just found for reference and give us their ideas about what kind of engraven images they'd like to adorn their character's bodies with.

Website Update and Remaining Tasks

I've had so many people emailing me personally who just recently found out about the project saying "I was going to contribute but I can't find a way to do it" that I decided to add a shopping cart to the website with some of our previous perks.

I'd still like to spend a bit of time filling in the descriptions on the perks but I think at the very least now this should help a bit and keep me from having to spent a lot of time away from the game filling out custom orders on paypal.

So if you have any friends or family who are still looking for a way to get in on the ground level, this is that way :)

Turrets. Yes, turrets are still missing from the shop simply because I had to take a lot of time away from developing their mechanics to focus on some super secret stuff for the game before our next push. I think by now that when I say "we have super secret cool stuff coming" people will recognize that when that happens, it means there really is something great coming... ;) We're a few weeks away from pushing it out but hopefully less than that before we can let people back into the game.

Our issue is, believe it or not, there is no game patcher right now. I know we had a kickass one before but that was in a different programming language and to be blunt, Unity is incompatible with it. My goal is to have that functional before we open the gates again, but worst case scenario, although i will hate to do so, if we just can't get it going in satisfactory time i may have to resort to distributing the game client the old fashioned way and patch it up as we go.

Another big thing is that for the first time, your account will actually reflect the contribution level you're at and unlock only those species/things you've contributed for. I know... BOOOooo right? Well cry me a freaking river you got to run around as a Veli for free for like four months during the prototype you poor babies. Don't despair though because with the website finally able to take orders for these unlocks, you'll be able to "buy in" for a contribution level appropriate to the amount of stuff you want very easily.

Again, sorry it's taken a couple weeks longer than I wanted, but without a steady source of income I'm just glad my guys haven't walked yet.

If you want to make it happen sooner, believe it or not our balance in the bank directly determines when that happens because I have to be able to keep people on just this project and not splitting their time working freelance to pay their bills. And even if you already contributed, don't be afraid to do so again because it really helps out and the main thing to keep in mind is that you will get something for it. We're a small and agile enough team that when people email us and say "I put in $50 already but I just did another $100, can I get something for having a total of $150" we actually can look it up and make certain that person get's an appropriate reward for the amount they've put in over time.

Anyways, enough "selling". Thanks again for not melting down and we'll talk again soon. Hopefully the next thing I post will be "here's the TS info - see you all there" :)

www.Divergence-Online.com

New Teamspeak and Land Grab Event Coming!

What's up with Teamspeak?

Even though I maintained a teamspeak account on Darkstar for many years, the server never got better. Anyone who spent time on our TS remembers it going down for minutes or hours virtually every day, so we finally junked it and moved to a new TS provider.

Since we're really close to being able to open the server back up after our overhaul to aspiring settlers, I figured why not go ahead and open them back up around the same time. This means we'll be announcing it's server address probably within a day or two before we open the gates to players.

What is still left before players can return to the world?

• Game Patcher. Before, we used a proprietary patching system that streamed the game contents to the end-user on demand. While no system is 100% unbreakable, it was pretty damn solid. What we have right now might allow connections, accounts, players, etc, I can't just zip it up and give it out to everyone on the internet or.. They'll have our raw game files. Therefore this is one major thing we're hashing out before we can open the world up again.
• Server State. While block placement are once again working in the game, they don't persist when the server restarts and you can imagine why this isn't something we can glaze over. This is our "for real" version of the game and people will expect  that the creations they give life to this time around will be there for all times. For this reason, we still need to solidify the new server's ability to save and retain this data in the manner required.

Divergence Land Grab Event

It's been a long road, getting from there to here. But we're finally on the horizon of being able to open up the Land Grab Event to those who bought it as a perk. What this means is that anyone included in this event will be granted a 24-hour early access to the game world to strike out and find that piece of land that appeals to them.

What races and breeds will be available this time around as opposed to the prototype?

Once the server's go online players (depending on their contribution level of course) will be able to choose from all five breeds of human for both male and female, Lokri male and female, Vindicator, Verrator, Ennie and Synthetic. We're even investigating the possibility of having DT in at launch.

What all options for character customization will be available as opposed to the prototype?

In this final version of the game the player has a ton of customizability. This is of course based totally on their choice of species. Synthetics have the least in that they merely inhabit a piece of machinery. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Humans and Lokri have have up to nearly 100 individual sliders to tailor their character's appearance exactly as they like. In addition to the options available at character creation, we're engineering the Image Design profession in-game to offer customization-levels beyond you can even accomplish in character creation.

What all professions will be functional?

This is something we're going to be building while we're moving. Meaning that at first, most likely only a few basic ones. The focus right now is to simply get people back into the game world playing and having a good time, then over the course of each week and month introducing more and more profession functionalities.

What's up with the new IndieGoGo? What happened with that?

I still plan on doing on in the near future but it will probably go live near the opening event. The reason being we plan to offer some collectors pieces such as unique tattooes or markings for a small fee to try and finance the game.

So last I heard you were flat broke? Is that suddenly not the case anymore?

It is, trust me it is lol. The only income we have right now is a couple paypal sales per week of early access to people who just recently found the game and are interested in contributing, so for any and all potential contributors, definitely keep those emails coming in :)

Holy crap, does that mean my chance to own a Vindicator or Verrator are up? What about the Ennie I wanted as well?!

This is going to be included in our IndieGoGo. We'll be giving one final chance to buy one of these breeds before saying "That's all..." Once that happens, barring extenuating circumstances, The number of living Vindicator and Verrator will be tallied and displayed for all to see, finally bringing into the forefront their struggle to resist the tides of extinction.

At that moment, the Veli story begins.

Thanks for your patience!

Server Upgrades Now

Starting tonight, our prototype server will be offline while we begin the processes up upgrading to new software. It could be down anywhere from a few hours to several days but if it takes longer than a few hours, assume that's good news because it'll mean we got our new server system online on the first attempt and that the old system is now un-needed. If we can't get it up and running soonish, we'll bring the old server back online until it's time for the next stage of upgrading the software and hardware.

Revealed Professions List and New Weather System

A lot of people have been asking me "Exactly what professions are available in Divergence" and I've been really vague about it simply because I can't say with certainty which ones will be included at final retail... However I can say what are included right now, and it's a lot. A real lot.

It's no secret that we've tried to make Divergence: Online the spiritual successor to pre-nge Star Wars Galaxies. That has always been the goal; as was th take those original systems and expand on them to a great degree. This is why we've kept true to the vast majority of professions players can remember about those golden days and also added a ton of our own such as:

New Base Professions:

1. Hacker - This base profession allows the player to build up and improve on their ability to manipulate both computer hardware and software. Even with regards to their opponents cybernetic enhancements.
2. Mentalist - Mentalist is the profession of being an intellectual, which helps the player strengthen and build up their mental resolve and resources toward a variety of advanced professions. Mentalist also leads up to one of our most controversial professions "Psychic" which trains the player to harness pure psychic energy to inflict damage and manipulate both the world around them and other players.
3. Operator - A base profession that allows the player to improve their ability to both command and operate vehicles, as well as maintain and repair them.

The first thing players will probably notice is just how many original SWG-inspired professions we've been able to cram in so far. While not all actually provide adequate skill mods and abilities, this is part of the "filling out" process once "they are all in". Below will be a list of all current professions.

New Weather:

People loved out day/night cycle in the prototype and thus we've expanded on it even further to include a fully-functional weather system as well!

In addition to bright days and starry night skies filled with nebulae, players traversing the world will also occasionally be confronted with light rain, torrential alien thunderstorms with thunder and lightning, or even blizzards in some locations which dip below the freezing mark.

While still in it's infancy, the system is based on a complex formula which creates realistic probabilities for specific types of weather events based on factors such as temperature, season, longitude and latitude.

Below is a list of all current professions. Please take with our thanks and keep an eye out for more improvements over the next two weeks :)

Basic Professions

• Artisan: Crafting of all objects.
• Brawler: Skills that include hand-to-hand combat and weapons.
• Entertainer: Skills relating to music or dancing.
• Hacker: Skills relating to the use and specialization of computer hardware and software.
• Marksman: Skills relating to the use of ranged weapons.
• Medic: Skills allowing the player to tend wounds.
• Mentalist: Skills honing the players mental abilities.
• Operator: Skills relating to, and modified by piloting land, sea, and air vehicles.
• Politician: The management and utilization of civic structures and civil management.
• Scout: The negociation and utilization of terrain and survival skills.

Elite Professions

• Architect: Allows construction of houses and other buildings. 
• Armorsmith: Crafter specializing in armors.
• Carbineer: Marksman specializing in carbines 
• Chef: Crafter who can manufacture a wide range of foods. 
• Creature Handler: Scout trained in taming and controlling animals. 
• Dancer: Entertainer with increased healing abilities through dancing. 
• Doctor: A skilled surgeon with the ability to make medicines.
• Synthetics Engineer: An engineer who builds robot and synthetic bodies.
• Fencer: Brawler trained in all manner of one-handed melee weapons.
• Image Designer: A character capable of changing nearly anything about another character's appearance.
• Musician: Gains healing through music and access to more songs and instruments.
• Psychic: An individual skilled at dominating others and affecting the world around them using the power of their mind.
• Pistoleer: Marksman skilled at using blaster pistols and other small firearms. 
• Ranger: Adventurer well-suited to travel, tracking, and defending others in combat. 
• Rifleman: Marksman who is skilled using rifles and other large firearms. 
• Tailor: Crafter specialized in creating all types of clothing.
• Tera Kasi Artist: A master of unarmed combat.
• Weaponsmith: Artisan who has become a skilled weapons maker. 

Hybrid Professions

While Elite Professions indicate specialized training in focused areas, Hybrid Professions provide a broader base of skills. Because they are complicated career paths, Hybrid Professions often require some degree of proficiency in two other related professions, and may call for Master titles.

• Bio-Engineer: Excels at producing and harvesting organic resources.
• Bounty Hunter: A mercenary who earns his living by hunting down bounty marks.
• Combat Medic: A healer who also has some field training to increase his odds of survival in battle.
• Commando: A hardened soldier trained to use and craft heavy weapons. 
• Smuggler: An adventurer able to sell contraband and collect narcotics. 
• Squad Leader: A soldier whose very presence in a group provides benefits to all group members. 

Hope - For The Sissies Who Need It

6am and I'm finally close to being able to lay my face on a soft surface for a few hours before getting back to it.

We've had great progress which I have zero desire to jynx, so all I'm going to say is that Divergence has been officially "adopted" by our recent software switch (which i hope to fully announce at some point in the near future) and it's ambassadors have been bending over backwards for us these last two weeks. It's a long-needed breath of fresh air both for myself personally and the project.

The goal was to make the switch while retaining the quality of architecture and graphics we had previously, but i'm pleased to announce that, now with the full pipeline open before us to all of our dark purposes and all roadblocks swept away at last, we have no exceeded previous standards. Some things will require some tweaking obviously, but overall we will no longer need to "sell" this move as an upgrade - as one can see in the image below, it is apparent to all.

Normally being flat broke would find me in less than top spirits, but right now i'm feeling good enough about our near future that it isn't weighing me down.

New stuff to come soon.

-Ethan