Space Sim First Look: Eve Online: Path To Kali (June 18, 2006)

[ChrisReid]

Last week we mentioned the steady growth that Eve Online has enjoyed over the last few years. In addition to launching the game in new markets, the developers behind Eve will also be releasing a new expansion pack soon. The Path To Kali will build on previous expansions by giving players the power to dramatically alter the politics of known space. Their reactions to events will reshape the universe and cause long lasting repercussions. Larger battleships, new options for technological research and additional environments to explore will round out the experience. Fans should expect Kali to roll out within the next few months, although a related factional warfare component will be held off until 2007. Eve's graphics will also receive an update, and this will serve as the test bed for an all new DirectX 10 engine upgrade to be implemented around the time of the Windows Vista launch.

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"Games either provide active content, in which the player reacts to artificial changes in the game universe, or they provide reactive content, in which the entire game universe reacts to the actions that players decide for themselves," said Magnus Bergsson, CMO of CCP Games. "CCP believes strongly that the players should be the center focus of the storyline and control the evolution of the game universe. The Path to Kali will lead EVE Online to great heights in reactive content and further establish EVE Online as the premium free-form MMOG on the market today."

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Original update published on June 18, 2006

 

[CataclysmX]

This sounds very interesting, is there going to be a first person mode?

I like the idea of being able to influence the factions in a MMO.

Anyone play this game?

 

[ChrisReid]

It doesn't sound like this is a first person type of game at all. I'm not sure how much control you even really have flying the ship.

 

[Lt.Death100]

From what I've heard it's just a bunch of behind the scenes dice doing all the action.

 

[HudsonD]

I'll stop my lurking to make a few comments since I've been playing EVE for a few months now.

Well, if you're looking for a FPS, or a space simulator, or an arcade type game-play, don't try EVE. You will *not* like it.
Combat and movement are mostly automated, and then the dices are rolled, true, but that doesn't mean it's easy or even simple...

If you're trying to hit something, let's take a look at what goes into it.
- Tracking capacity of your gun, versus speed and range of your target. Depends on the type of your gun - some are good for short distances, or long distances, you don't track a fast frigate with battleship guns - and on the transversal speed of the shooter and target. Can be affected by skills and modules.
- Precision of your gun, versus size of your target. Can be affected by skills and modules.
- Optimal Range, which is affected by ammo type, and certain modules and skills. It gets harder and harder to hit the further you are from it, but if you're too close, your guns might have trouble with tracking.
- Various EW/EEW skills and modules I won't start listing.

*Then* a dice is rolled to see if you hit. Of course, that's for guns, missiles are a bit different, though somewhat simpler... And then there's the damage resolution.
And you can do many more thing than combat...

 

[Space Powo]

We all could of wish there was a new space flight trading MMOs unlike EVE.
There are a few space flight mmo's out there but no one wants to play them for various reasons. Most of the time, low online number turns them off.

If you like space theme and RPG Combat system, EVE might be a good game for you however, any point and click controls and dice rolling combat system game may require you to not go solo.

 

[Unregistered]

It doesn't sound like this is a first person type of game at all. I'm not sure how much control you even really have flying the ship.

You actually have full control of your ship, just not flying with the joystick/keyboard way, and it's not just limited to selecting an object and selecting "Approach", "Orbit", "Keep at Range", there is actually ALOT of manual manuevering in EVE, the people who say it doesn't obviously just hunt npcs and mine for a living. In small gang PVP, manuevering is key because your positioning, velocity, vector etc etc all play a part in determining who comes out on top in the engagement. Interceptor pilots (Very fast supercharged frigates, essentially fighters) always fly manually in pvp to close range quickly to scramble enemy ships. But this is of course comparing apples to oranges since Wing Commander is a flight simulator and based on twitch skills and EVE is a ship simulator and based on tactical skills.

 

[ChrisReid]

Is it really tactical skills? Or is it mostly grinding to get the best upgrades so that the math comes out in your favor?

The only multiplayer Wing Commander game available so far for PCs actually has a big strategic element built around it.

 

[Unregistered]

Is it really tactical skills? Or is it mostly grinding to get the best upgrades so that the math comes out in your favor?

The only multiplayer Wing Commander game available so far for PCs actually has a big strategic element built around it.

Yup, tactical skills are basically your own skills (not ingame ones), knowing what modules to outfit your ship with, knowing how to best position your ship to take down an enemy one, knowing instinctively how the enemy will react and manuevering your ship to inflict maximum damage, all those aren't acquired with ingame skills but rather with your own skills and intuition. So it's not just a simple math and add up the dice equation.
Having the right upgrades does play a part in it, obviously a really expensive laser turret will do more damage than a run of the mill one, but that's the same in any game.

It's not who has the biggest ship and the most ingame skills wins, and you can't grind your way up to the top like WoW or something like that, here ingame skills only dictate what you can use and what you can fly, whether you can use them effectively all comes down to your own skills and tactics. I've taken out battleships with nothing more than a properly fitted assault frigate.

As for the strategic element, this game has it in spades, check out :
http://dl3.eve-files.com/media/corp/CRII/Latest.jpg?472371

that's the current political map in eve, you can claim systems and form empires in eve, that actually shape the flow and atmosphere of the game and are actually requirements for building larger objects like stations and outposts. Unlike other games that have guilds, clans etc, these actually serve a real purpose in eve rather just being a shared chat channel.

 

[ChrisReid]

Yup, tactical skills are basically your own skills (not ingame ones), knowing what modules to outfit your ship with, knowing how to best position your ship to take down an enemy one, knowing instinctively how the enemy will react and manuevering your ship to inflict maximum damage, all those aren't acquired with ingame skills but rather with your own skills and intuition.

That all sounds like what people do in multiplayer Wing Commander games too. It doesn't seem like there's much difference between twitch and tactics here.