Evochron Mercenary - Differences From Previous Games

[Marvin]

Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one ... except February, so we skip it.

[Zenith]

That's a long list of improvements! I'm definitely looking forward to this one. Great work Vice.

[MMaggio]

I heard the release date was the 33rd of September! :P:P

[Maarschalk]

I was wondering who was going to notice the extra day in September....:P:P:P:P:P:P
I like an extra day in September.......That is the day the world stood still......

LOL, what calendar are you relatively on MMagio?.........:P:P:P:P

[Edited on 8-6-2010 by Maarschalk]

[Edited on 8-6-2010 by Maarschalk]

[Marvin]

Well, there might be a lot of changes/differences in the game ... but the forum hasn't changed a bit.

[ryuu]

the forum ha changed, we all spend an entire day posting on the hor of midnight of the 30th of september!

[Maarschalk]

Yes, and today we are a day and as I'm posting a few minutes and seconds closer, by the time you guys read this post, to the release date.......:P:P:P:P

[ryuu]

that is relatively, a very small amount of time however

[Ohsirus]

Have to say reading the changes brings to light how much difference EM is from EL. The Youtube videos didn't really reflect how much of an upgrade it is.

[Blackthorne]

Ah, lovely list of features. I do have a few questions, though.

- There are quite a few new frames available, and they seem to come from two different sources. Will those be available from your friedly neighbourhood mercenary craft dealership, or do we need to suck up to some foreign powers?

- The new military frames are awesome (okay, I know where you got them from, but hey, nice to see them finally implemented into a game). I assume we get them in the usualy way? (i.E., shooting Vonari until they become an endangered species?)

- While we're at the ships...any new on the customizing front? Are decals possible now, or maybe some more saturated colours?

- I can finally build my very own den of iniquity. Oh yeah, whores and blackjack all the way, guys. But how exactly do I do that? Buy a space station flatpack at my local station and toss it out of the cargo bay? Call some cheap foreign...err, independant contractors and hand them oodles of money along with a set of coordinates?

And more important, can these stations be "locked" to provide only access for clan members?

- I see that the beams got a workover and that my banshee is no longer the howling spitter of death it used to be. In the end, what matters is making the other guys die, so I'm a bit worried about "specialty guns". Was the system revised to they still pack enough oomph to kill a heavily shielded ship, or can you actually kill things with beam weapons now? I hate to be dependant on secondary weapons in order to deliver a killing blow, they tend to run out long before I run out of things to kill.

- The new planetary features sound awesome. Are there cities on gas giants (think Cloud City/Bespin)? Also, have the city visuals been changed?


I will most definitely be buying this and pimping it to my friends and aquaintances. Like a fine wine, Vice's games get better with each passing year. And I have a feeling that the 2010 Chateau d'Evochron will be an exceptional vintage.

-Blackthorne

[Edited on 8-8-2010 by Blackthorne]

[Vice]

- There are quite a few new frames available, and they seem to come from two different sources. Will those be available from your friedly neighbourhood mercenary craft dealership, or do we need to suck up to some foreign powers?

Availability of civilian ships will generally scale with system technology and economy/market. Higher military ranks will be needed for more advanced military ships.

- The new military frames are awesome (okay, I know where you got them from, but hey, nice to see them finally implemented into a game). I assume we get them in the usualy way? (i.E., shooting Vonari until they become an endangered species?)

Yup.

- While we're at the ships...any new on the customizing front? Are decals possible now, or maybe some more saturated colours?

The texturing system is very different this time around (base + normal + specular), you could apply different textures with different color levels, although the defaults should be pretty apparent for different paint types. Decals may become an option at some point, but I'd want to try and implement it for MP as well as SP (and without negatively impacting performance for the image exchange).

- I can finally build my very own den of iniquity. Oh yeah, whores and blackjack all the way, guys. But how exactly do I do that? Buy a space station flatpack at my local station and toss it out of the cargo bay? Call some cheap foreign...err, independant contractors and hand them oodles of money along with a set of coordinates?

You use a 'constructor' equipment item as a kind of beacon to broadcast where you want the station to be placed and pay for its transport/delivery.

And more important, can these stations be "locked" to provide only access for clan members?

Only by the clan members themselves to enforce the 'locking'

- I see that the beams got a workover and that my banshee is no longer the howling spitter of death it used to be. In the end, what matters is making the other guys die, so I'm a bit worried about "specialty guns". Was the system revised to they still pack enough oomph to kill a heavily shielded ship, or can you actually kill things with beam weapons now? I hate to be dependant on secondary weapons in order to deliver a killing blow, they tend to run out long before I run out of things to kill.

They'll still pack enough punch to destroy a ship, but those with additional effects (ie kinetic, shield, energy) will generally do less hull damage in exchange for their other function. Some could indeed be combined with certain secondaries for a devastating attack or used on their own for partially/temporarily disabling, giving you more time to inflict damage. In fact, I think a lot of the beta tester have reformulated their attack strategies to include the option of opening up wil beam cannons to reduce shields (which now mostly retains weapon energy), then following up with a preferred particle cannon... saving missiles for the few situations where taking out a target faster is very important. The AI has some new tactics, particularly when they are in groups, so timing attacks differently and using some new tactics with the new weapons can come in handy.

- The new planetary features sound awesome. Are there cities on gas giants (think Cloud City/Bespin)? Also, have the city visuals been changed?

Now some things would be spoilers if I revealed them Lets just say that gas giants have very high pressure, not too practical for something like a city... But certainly do not pass them up for exploration. Yes, city visuals have changed as well as the location system. They are now 'procedurally' generated so their structures are uniquely placed, rotated, and scaled for each planet and their locations can vary both vertically and horizontally.

[Earl]

Originally posted by Vice

...and their locations can vary both vertically and horizontally....

I'm seeing cave cities more than cloud cities. Can you drop a city down into the ground?

Also with all these great new places to go I know my log is going to get cluttered. Will there be any updates to the way the log is organized, possibly multiple lists?

[Marvin]

Originally posted by Earl

Can you drop a city down into the ground?

I can't vouch for Mercenary but, when modding Legends, you could drop a construct station onto the north pole of a planet ... and dock with it. Looked cool, too.

[Vice]

Also with all these great new places to go I know my log is going to get cluttered. Will there be any updates to the way the log is organized, possibly multiple lists?

The maplog system supports easier/faster scrolling via the mouse wheel and you can edit the text file itself to change the order of listings or their descriptions. The new maplog system also supports right clicking on the icons directly to lock in a nav point exactly to their locations. One thing I like to do is mark them visually so I can tell which listings are for which regions. So for example:

(Pearl) Hidden Containers Near Oasis <
(Pearl) Hidden Wormhole <
(Vega) Platinum Asteroids <
(Vega) Potential Station Build Point <

Then if new listings are added to existing regions, sort them by group as needed.

[Wolfox]

Originally posted by thetiebers
Good to see posts from returning patrons Wolfox. Hope to see you out there.

For the record, I was never really away... just lurking for a good while. But I'm sure we'll see each other out there soon enough (September is around the corner now).

[Blackthorne]

Oookay, I had a few hours to cool down and recompose myself. I'm still pretty giddy about a sequel to one of my favorite games literally appearing out of nowhere, but at least my higher brain functions have started to kick back in. I've also read the threads. All umpteen pages of them.

Most of the new features presented are lovely and much appreciated, but there's a few things I've been pondering over.

1. With "player owned" (or at least, built) space stations available, is there still an option to invest into a station for a 20% discount on their stock?

2. Is there any downside to transporting a deploy constructor or build constructor? If not, dropping a full-size base during a dogfight and then hiding in there might become a viable tactic.

3. While I enjoy the idea of my very own base (one of the really, really great things about the X-Series), I fear that the space around the major "points of interest" on any open server might get cluttered with space stations pretty quickly. Doubly so as there is always the possibility of safescumming; enter the server, dump your money's worth in stations around pearl, the log off and reload a different savegame. Repeat until the server conks out due to load or the lag becomes unbearable.
Are there any limits (besides player-owned demolition companies) to prevent this?

4. From what I could muster, crew, equipment slots, missile hardpoints and countermeasures now come from a common pool of points. While this makes the larger frames far more useful (I always felt them to be a bit pointless in legends), I wonder if the smaller/midsized frames will remain useful. You need a few key items to properly do combat missions, and I wonder if they'll fit in a small or medium sized frame.

4a. Which, in return, brings us to several questions.
Do Excaliburs still take up 8 Missile Hardpoints, despite their massively increased reload time?
Do wing components offer anything besides improved maneuverability now?
And, last but not least: With the ability to ditch crew spots for equipment slots and missile hardpoints in civilian ships, what do military craft offer in return? (That is, besides their spiffy looks - the Raven Frame is worth the price of the game alone!).

5. Any chance of player-built cities on the planetary surfaces, at least as far as the code of the game itself is concerned?


I'm probably worrying too much about things that already have been solved months ago, but still, I'm curious.

-Blackthorne

[Vice]

1. With "player owned" (or at least, built) space stations available, is there still an option to invest into a station for a 20% discount on their stock?

You're automatically given a license to stations you build.

2. Is there any downside to transporting a deploy constructor or build constructor? If not, dropping a full-size base during a dogfight and then hiding in there might become a viable tactic.

It just uses an equipment slot. For station building, the tactic you describe would probably be difficult since the build position need to remain consistent until the transport cycle completes (which takes a couple of minutes). Deploy options however would be much more practical in combat.

3. While I enjoy the idea of my very own base (one of the really, really great things about the X-Series), I fear that the space around the major "points of interest" on any open server might get cluttered with space stations pretty quickly. Doubly so as there is always the possibility of safescumming; enter the server, dump your money's worth in stations around pearl, the log off and reload a different savegame. Repeat until the server conks out due to load or the lag becomes unbearable.
Are there any limits (besides player-owned demolition companies) to prevent this?

There are proximity limits and if desired, server operators can regulate station building.

4a. Which, in return, brings us to several questions.
Do Excaliburs still take up 8 Missile Hardpoints, despite their massively increased reload time?

Yes.

Do wing components offer anything besides improved maneuverability now?

That's their intended function (both atmosphere and open space maneuverability). You may find that the differences are now more pronounced (including the physics of each ship).

And, last but not least: With the ability to ditch crew spots for equipment slots and missile hardpoints in civilian ships, what do military craft offer in return? (That is, besides their spiffy looks - the Raven Frame is worth the price of the game alone!).

Military craft generally offer class 10 quality hardware (eninge, shields, and thrusters) in a fast and agile frame optimized for combat. Some also provide very high shielding and armor.

5. Any chance of player-built cities on the planetary surfaces, at least as far as the code of the game itself is concerned?

Possibly.

[Blackthorne]

As I thought...everything has already been taken care of. You're amazing, Vice.
Thanks for the quick reply and the heads-up.

-Blackthorne.

[Marvin]

A couple questions:

1. In general (probably applies to both EL and EM), does an engine's fuel consumption also affect the amount of fuel burned when jumping in hyperspace? In other words, does a bigger engine burn more fuel, per jump, when using the same class Fulcrum drive?

2. Can you store items in your own station and, if so, do you get charged a storage fee (after all, you do own the station)?

[verbosity]

1. no the jump drive is a seperate bit of kit. though there will be an effect if you leave ids on

2. not sure, you own a licence for that station automatically though, that prolly has an effect

[Blackthorne]

I just realized a little oddity...



We've got two frames with identical names.

-Blackthorne

[Maarschalk]

I think one is Civilian and the other is Military. I think I saw that on the webpage for Mercenary....

[Edited on 8-10-2010 by Maarschalk]

[Vice]

I just realized a little oddity...
We've got two frames with identical names.

Ah, good catch, thanks! The new military frame should have the name 'Shrike'. Updated.

[Blackthorne]

Okay. Let's assume for a moment that I'd want to set up a dedicated server for Mercenary, capable of handling the maximum number of players (64, I believe?). What kind of hardware and what kind of connection would that require? Also, what amount of bandwidth would I need to expect?

(Seriously, people, I'm tempted tp host this time around. The features on Mercenary blow the expectations I had for Black Prophecy clear out of the water, and with the new player-owned stations and deployables, multiplayer got a lot more interesting for me. I'd rate the potential higher than EVE, especially considering the much smaller commitment required.)

-Blackthorne

[Edited on 14-8-2010 by Blackthorne]

[Vice]

Here are the system requirements and bandwidth estimates:

Operating System: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: 1 Ghz AMD or Intel
Video Card: 32 MB DirectX compatible
RAM: 512 MB
Hard Drive Space: 10 MB

256Kbps - 4-8 players
512Kbps - 8-12 players
768Kbps - 12-16 players
1.5Mbps - 16-24 players
3.0Mbps - 24-35 players
LAN - 35 players

It's also scalable in certain areas so you can change some settings to improve/control performance.