RoVerse Development Newsletter #254

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 254th issue of the RoVerse Development Newsletter, where we keep you updated on the progress we've made over the past week.

This week, Idyllic is on vacation, so we have a guest-writer for this newsletter - Sabine of Space Cadette News. The topic this week is faction food.

Meals of the Galaxy

This is Space Cadette News, in special collaboration with the Ro-verse Newsletter to help add extra content as Idyllic enjoys his vacation.


A meal in space does not just have to be flash rehydration and astronaut ice cream. In a vast galaxy, there is bound to be a wide array of food and the stories behind them, this is what we will focus on.
We asked the factions of RoVerse to submit a 3 course meal of their faction's diet. A starter or appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. We are grateful for all who participated to add to the diverse universe we all know and explore every culture. 

Akatana

We start with The House of Akatana, with Omurice, Tiger-skinned Balut, and Ice Cream Parfait.

Starter:
Omurice

Omurice comes in two forms. A human-style version using ketchup fried rice with vegetables and chicken, and an Akatanan style version using meat glaze, with Akata rice, nuts, and vegetables.

This dish in a recognizable form entered the Akatanan palette back in 1696 AA, following the initial trades established with foreign traders. Legend has it that the first dish came from a town on the Yuropu continent on Chikyu, before eventually being popularized within the Capital of the Carotian empire and exported abroad.

The Akatanans eventually developed their own derivation of the dish. Since then, it often uses Akatanan-bred rice from the Akata region of Akatara, which has since developed a faint blue tint, and uses regional livestock such as ground-raptors.

Main Course:
Tiger-skinned Balut

The idea of boiling late-development fertilized eggs was inherited from Ancient history, most likely from the Jitarians (Or whoever traded with them). The term ‘Balut’ though has been well known to come from Chikyu, and is what most translator softwares use to describe the dish. 

"Tiger Skinned", presumably refers to the appearance. The boiled egg is fried to give it a golden, crunchy surface, resembling a certain predatory mammal. This too was a technique used on Chikyu, but separately from Balut. 
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Unlike any of the separate foods, Akatanan Tiger-skinned Balut is served with a spicy sauce on the side, not in said sauce or without it.

Dessert:
Ice Cream Parfait

Two flavors reign supreme among the Akatanan, Shiria ice cream and Green tea ice cream. 

The term Parfait was popularized across the galaxy (at least based on Akatanan relations) as a relatively fancy dessert consisting of ice cream mixed with various high-calorie foods to maximize pleasure. Lacking the high-complexity taste buds of humans though, Akatanans preferred to place varying and complex textures into foods to achieve a similar effect.

This version from Akatana contains several layers of blue Shiria-infused ice cream mixed with its vanilla counterpart, as well as graham crackers, chili jelly, and deep-fried pork fat, completed with a pointed spoon for beak-ingestion. Some ingredients such as Shiria aren’t available everywhere, and are often substituted for thirium or green tea depending on the location. 
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Shiria is an Akatanan compound similar, if not derivative to Thirium. It’s less dangerous to non-modies but less powerful to modies due to the increased presence of specific anti-clumping agents.

Nexus

Next we move on to the Independent Systems of Nexus with their seemingly traditional three course meal consisting of Anclite Greens with frontier cheese and bread, Monster Steaks and rice, and Cityberry pie with Mint Ice Cream.

Starter:
Anclite Greens with frontier cheese and bread

With the frontier region being wealthy and abundant in farm richlands, a salad can be put together just by walking down the road, packing many natural vitamins, but not too hefty to fill you before the rest gets to you. 
FurBos Cheese made fresh from domesticated FurBos’ across farms near cities or out in the frontier, some say the further inland you go the richer the taste can get.
Bread made the same day by bakers. It seems like this baker had a thing for a certain Mouse.

Main Course:
Monster Steaks and Rice

Monster can mean one of two things depending on where you get it from, it can either mean the ridiculous portion size of a domesticated animal that could feed an entire squad, or it could be the succulent meat of a predator that happened upon a hunting party or a man defending his home or village with a gun and happened to have a well placed shot. 

Regardless of whether the meat is cooked anywhere from medium rare to medium well, ask for well done, you might want to avoid walking home at night from then-on. Seasoned to perfection, served with any vegetables that were in the pan getting all the fat rendered with it, and served with a side of rice.
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This dish packs a ton of protein and can get a man through work for three whole days, just try to savor the moment at the first bite, you’ll never have a first bite of Monster Steak again.

Dessert:
Cityberry Pie and Mint Ice Cream

Berries grow practically everywhere on Nexus, some are just regular treats, others have special abilities that can offer benefits or setbacks to the consumer.

That's why the government put regulation on the sales of berries, having all authorized berries transferred to cities where they are properly processed, hence the term ‘Cityberry’.

Sold whole or in jams and jellies, they are shipped back across the planet to shelves of markets or general stores. 

A common use for the berries is making a pie, and serving it with a mint ice cream to balance out the tart associated with pies. Each berry has a different taste, and if you happen to use berries with special properties, expect one heck of a party.
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The Hold

Working away in the mines sure make one hungry, if you think you can handle this meal, you are sure to be in good company within The Onyx Hold with their three course meal of Rock-salt Fries, Charred Rock Roast, and Strawberry Rock Candy.

Starter:
Rock-salt Fries

The rock-salt fries are the food of the common people, a favorite of every member of the asteroid miner's union when on lunch break or after a long day of mining. 
The rock-salt is 100% pure salt, making it nearly transparent, and exquisitely tasty on fried foods of all kinds.

Main Course:
Charred Rock Roast

The rock roast is a delicacy eaten only on special occasions, requiring a group of people to hunt down a mighty rock boar in their maze-like tunnels. 
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Served charred to a crisp, with a succulent and tender meat, with a variety of side dishes.

Dessert:
Strawberry Rock Candy

The favorite dessert of the asteroid miners is rock candy, that comes in every flavor imaginable. 
The process involves dissolving sugar in water, dipping a stick in, and allowing the crystals to grow. 
To the asteroid miners, making rocks is one of the most enjoyable experiences, next to mining them.
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ARGOS

Most people would not expect a weapons manufacturing company to also produce food as well, but here they are, reaching out to a new audience and making more money.

Does this all wish you can reach out and take a bite, the future looks bright for the factions of Ro-Verse, and we look forward to what more they will do in the future. This is Space Cadette News, Logged Out.

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This week in the dogfight there were 777 kills, 7 with auto, 1 with beam, 15 with laser, 6 with plasma, 12 with railgun, and 736 with torpedo. The most dangerous ship was the Silencer with 587 kills, followed by the VSa1-1_Kazan with 107. The most dangerous map was Pillarum with 392 deaths, followed by The_Great_Hollow with 252.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for...
The three players that topped the leaderboard were tygrys202, with 588 kills and 4 deaths and a 147 KDR; FangABXY with 128 kills, 19 deaths and a 6.73 KDR; and devOmegax with 59 kills, 14 deaths, and a 4.21 KDR. They have unlocked the exclusive ship Odonata Anisoptera in the Alpha Dogfight. Nice work pilots!
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If you'd like to check out the rest of our data, you can find the spreadsheet here: Phase 1 Data (Week 98)

Calexian Community Challenge

Before the end of Cycle 13, the community had to complete the following two challenges to unlock a Calexian ship for all to use.
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​The challenges were: 1000 Gatecrash points, and 3,000,000 studs flown.

Gatecrash points were completed a few weeks ago, but flight distance was a challenge, narrowly surpassing the 3,000,000 stud goal. For this achievement, the community has unlocked the Calexian Eva.

Calexian Challenge #4

With the end of the third Calexian Challenge, comes the beginning of the fourth. By the end of the 15th Cycle, we have been challenged to destroy 6,000 Outpost Turrets, and get 3,000 kills with weapons besides Torpedoes.

Lets see if our offensive capabilities are due to our loadouts, or our determination.

Now, for the overall cycle stats!

Pillarum was the most dangerous map, with 2291 kills, followed by Blue Spaceway and The_Great_Hollow with exactly 2092 each. The top ship was the Silencer, with 3302 kills, followed by the Kazan with 1258, and the Excalibur with 528. The top weapon was the Torpedo, with 5394 kills, followed by Beam with 329, and Railgun with 274. Plasma marked up to 250, Laser with 210, and Auto with 135. Overall, 37 pilots participated this cycle and earned at least one kill, while 56 players died at least once. The lowest KDR belongs to The Outpost with a .04 KDR. The dogfight has seen 7,867 visits, with an 83% approval rating (149-30) and 362 favorites.

This cycle there were 6,592 kills total. Topping off this cycle's leaderboard was FangABXY, with 2027 kills, 155 deaths, and a 13.07 KDR. He was followed by tygrys202 with 1862 kills, 162 deaths, and a 11.49 KDR, and Phaytox with 1534 kills, 133 Deaths, and 11.53 KDR. These three pilots have unlocked the exclusive Golden Anisoptera Skin, coming soon to a dogfight near you.

If you'd like to check out the rest of our data, you can find the spreadsheet here: Phase 1 Data (Championship Series 14)

Each week we compile a Q&A section here whenever there are any new questions posted on the RoVerse Community group wall or in the Community Discord Server. Be sure to join if you have any questions about RoVerse:

ROBLOX Group: https://www.roblox.com/My/Groups.aspx?gid=2948290
Discord server: https://discord.gg/npxBGwJ

Q1: How did you manage that cool atmospheric transition to space effect?

A1: It's quite simple really. Its a giant inverted sphere mesh that we adjust the transparency of as you gain elevation. In front of it, we have some blue fog. A quirk of the old Roblox fog system is that it doesn't cover up the sky, which always shows through clearly, but if you put something transparent in front of the sky, it can change the skybox's visibility. For most cases now, though, Atmospheres will be a much better solution. Our solution is really only useful for our round planets, which cant make use of the Atmosphere effects.

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​​​You can support us by joining our Community Group or Discord server! So far, the community has been absolutely amazing, supportive, and very friendly. We are very appreciative of all the support you guys show us!

If you want to catch any of our developers streaming, you can always follow our official Twitch channel here!

Remember, we are always looking for new, talented builders, scripters and artists! If you’d like to help us you can always get in touch with us through RoVerse_Official on the ROBLOX website, or by contacting an Administrator in the community Discord! Don’t worry, we don’t bite!