Crytek’s next-gen engine to power real-money virtual world
MindArk has licensed Crytek’s CryEngine 2 for use in its massively-multiplayer project Entropia Universe.
The game, which currently features over 600,000 registered users and boasts a real-money economy, will be transitioned to the CryEngine 2 platform by mid-2008.
MindArk’s CEO Jan Welter Timkrans said: "When we saw what the engine was capable of, we immediately understood that it would be perfect for Entropia, as both MindArk and Crytek are pioneers in their respective fields."
"We are thrilled to have been chosen by such a well regarded and successful industry leader as MindArk to be their future engine provider for Entropia Universe," added Avni Yerli, Crytek’s managing director.
"We think the combination of our CryEngine 2 technology and their extremely popular virtual playground will result in a new kind of rich and immersive experience that has not been possible until now."
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The entire concept of Entropia Universe is based on gambling PEDs (US Dollars) in various games of chance in the hope of greater returns, based on unknown and secret random algorithms.
If Entropia Universe isn’t supposed to be an online gambling service, what is the purpose of “Global” loot messages advertising loots received over the value of 50 PEDs, the “Hall of Fame” and “All Time High’s” other than to encourage players to gamble their PEDs (US Dollars) in the games of chance that are the Hunting, Mining and Manufacturing professions in pursuit of that elusive win?
The driving dominant factor for successful outcomes (a win) in the three playable professions in Entropia (Hunting, Mining, Manufacturing) is nothing other than a series of hidden random algorithms that determine a profit or a loss, with unknown and secret odds.
The obvious nature of the game is that the ‘House Always Wins’ at the expense of those paying for the privilege of a chance to spin the wheel/roll the dice/pull the lever/click the mouse and gamble on striking it lucky.
Gambling in this context has a specific economic definition, referring to “wagering money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods”.
The Manufacturing/Crafting “profession” in Entropia is directly analogous to playing a Slot machine, in that items of real value are gambled with the intent of producing a gain/profit given unknown odds. The actual in-game system involves nothing more than dragging virtual items of a specific value into a window, pressing a button and then waiting for an algorithm to generate a random outcome of either a win or a loss.
The exact same thing also takes place in the Hunting and Mining “professions”, however, this time virtual ammo or virtual mining probes (which have a real cash value) act as the casino chips/coins, and an unknown random algorithm generates either a profit or a loss in terms of the loot received (which has a real cash value) when a creature is killed or a mining probe dropped.
The only purpose “Global” loot messages, the “Hall of Fame” and “All Time High’s” serve is to demonstrate how much one may win, and to encourage players to gamble PEDs (US Dollars) on these so called “professions”.
With this graphics engine, Entropia Universe will be one step forward its competititors.
