New to EL - a few questions
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 9:46 pm
Hello everyone! I've been lurking on these forums for a while since I've been interested in the Evochron series for quite a while but have never pulled the trigger on a purchase until the other day, when I picked up Evochron Legacy. I wanted to start off by saying wow, I love this game!
To preface these questions, I've played through the training scenarios twice, read the entire manual, and done a few scenarios in my Miner/Trader start with the IND faction. Here's what I'm wondering about after my time with the game so far:
1. I see that the pitch ladder provides a way to orient yourself with the galactic plane, however I was wondering if there is a numerical readout of the actual pitch, similar to how the compass works? I know that pitch is not always a crucial piece of information, but in instances where the science officer provides coordinates to a hidden item, having an exact pitch readout would be helpful. Is this present anywhere on the HUD and I'm just missing it, or does it need to be approximated based on the tic marks on the ladder? If it is not present, is there any way I can mod the HUD to include a numerical readout? Where would I access the pitch value to accomplish this, if it is possible?
2. I took on a contract where a planetside city needed 25 units of water. There was a time limit on when I could accept the contract, and I accepted it well before the timer ran out. I flew over to the planet, began to collect water, and once I had amassed 25 units, I docked with the city, only to realize that I had failed the contract. I don't recall seeing a timer in the inventory menu while the mission was active - is there a hidden timer for when these missions need to be completed by? Is there a standard amount of time that is given for a mission like this so I can better prepare myself next time? Or is there actually a timer and I just missed where it is located in the UI? Or did I possibly fail this mission for another reason that I'm unaware of?
3. Related to #2, I needed to collect water using the mining/tractor beam. I noted the sound which plays when a unit of material is collected into a cargo bay. However, I'm wondering if there is any way to see what item was collected without leaving the inventory screen open. Is there a readout on the screen which shows which item was just collected into inventory? For example, with no menus open and while flying with the tractor beam toggled on, is there anywhere that would read "+1 Water" or something along those lines as it is added to the cargo bay? If not, is there a way that I could mod this into the HUD? I play with mouse and keyboard, so I'm unable to control the craft while the inventory screen is open; I'm not sure if this is different for joystick or controller users.
4. I selected IND as my starting faction since I would like to get used to the basic mechanics before worrying about combat. I see that the two main quests each have an Alliance and a Federation variant. Can I choose either one of these? Will I actually be able to accomplish them while remaining part of the IND faction, or will I need to modify my profile to align with ALC or FED to continue the quest?
5. It seems the main engines are tied to the IDS system, meaning that when it is disabled, any changes to the SET value, either through the 1 through 0 keys or trimming with the default W and S keys, will not affect the engines firing. Is there a way to accelerate beyond the maximum speed achieved at IDSx9 with full thrust? Basically, what I'm asking is - is there a way to switch to inertial and fire the main engines so I can continue to raise my speed further? Is the afterburner the only way to achieve this?
Thanks to anyone in advance for reading through my numerous questions, and I appreciate any help and clarification!
To preface these questions, I've played through the training scenarios twice, read the entire manual, and done a few scenarios in my Miner/Trader start with the IND faction. Here's what I'm wondering about after my time with the game so far:
1. I see that the pitch ladder provides a way to orient yourself with the galactic plane, however I was wondering if there is a numerical readout of the actual pitch, similar to how the compass works? I know that pitch is not always a crucial piece of information, but in instances where the science officer provides coordinates to a hidden item, having an exact pitch readout would be helpful. Is this present anywhere on the HUD and I'm just missing it, or does it need to be approximated based on the tic marks on the ladder? If it is not present, is there any way I can mod the HUD to include a numerical readout? Where would I access the pitch value to accomplish this, if it is possible?
2. I took on a contract where a planetside city needed 25 units of water. There was a time limit on when I could accept the contract, and I accepted it well before the timer ran out. I flew over to the planet, began to collect water, and once I had amassed 25 units, I docked with the city, only to realize that I had failed the contract. I don't recall seeing a timer in the inventory menu while the mission was active - is there a hidden timer for when these missions need to be completed by? Is there a standard amount of time that is given for a mission like this so I can better prepare myself next time? Or is there actually a timer and I just missed where it is located in the UI? Or did I possibly fail this mission for another reason that I'm unaware of?
3. Related to #2, I needed to collect water using the mining/tractor beam. I noted the sound which plays when a unit of material is collected into a cargo bay. However, I'm wondering if there is any way to see what item was collected without leaving the inventory screen open. Is there a readout on the screen which shows which item was just collected into inventory? For example, with no menus open and while flying with the tractor beam toggled on, is there anywhere that would read "+1 Water" or something along those lines as it is added to the cargo bay? If not, is there a way that I could mod this into the HUD? I play with mouse and keyboard, so I'm unable to control the craft while the inventory screen is open; I'm not sure if this is different for joystick or controller users.
4. I selected IND as my starting faction since I would like to get used to the basic mechanics before worrying about combat. I see that the two main quests each have an Alliance and a Federation variant. Can I choose either one of these? Will I actually be able to accomplish them while remaining part of the IND faction, or will I need to modify my profile to align with ALC or FED to continue the quest?
5. It seems the main engines are tied to the IDS system, meaning that when it is disabled, any changes to the SET value, either through the 1 through 0 keys or trimming with the default W and S keys, will not affect the engines firing. Is there a way to accelerate beyond the maximum speed achieved at IDSx9 with full thrust? Basically, what I'm asking is - is there a way to switch to inertial and fire the main engines so I can continue to raise my speed further? Is the afterburner the only way to achieve this?
Thanks to anyone in advance for reading through my numerous questions, and I appreciate any help and clarification!