New Frames & Inventory Console Features

[CS-ACI-]

Hello,

Equipment, additional mining beams. Selectable mining beams for different ore/minerals.

Check some of the higher-tech star systems.

Only been playing ( EM ) for a couple of hours when I wrote that, had been playing ( ER ) before that.

Been too Sol so I have almost everything I needed/wanted now.

The basic idea is still sound, well the rest of it.

Steve

[SeeJay]

I love the idea of moving comets/asteroids.
I suggested that way back somewhere.

Imagine a planet screaming for help after they
found an asteroid on a collisioncourse with it.
(Timed contract to intercept/destroy).

Also finding rare items in a cave if you manage
to enter the cave of a speeding/rotating asteroid.

[zzone]

I love the idea of moving comets/asteroids.
I suggested that way back somewhere.

Imagine a planet screaming for help after they
found an asteroid on a collisioncourse with it.
(Timed contract to intercept/destroy).

Also finding rare items in a cave if you manage
to enter the cave of a speeding/rotating asteroid.

excellent idea!

[DaveK]

It would certainly add a challenging and very interesting option!

[DaveK]

I've been looking at mockerll's new skins for ships (http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtop ... #pid172570) They seem to be very 'bright' and visible.

In an attempt to work out just how big are ships are compared to gates and stations and capitals ships I've taken many, many screenshots and it's very difficult to see the default ships, without some major crude processing in Photoshop to increase their brightness and contrast with the background.

Is there a reason that our ships blend so well into the background? Is there a way of increasing their visibility? If not then I request that either the default visibility is increased or there is an option to switch between 'hiding in the dark' (as now), being somewhat visible when at a medium distance and being quite bright (like mockerll's skins)

I'd like to see what killing me! . . . and the eye candy of the ship designs floating around the Evoverse!

[Marvin]

Two words: collision lights.

[DaveK]

Two words: collision lights.

It's less about knowing where they are since that's shown on the HUD - though lights would be good for HUD-free flying and look cool. It's more that our ships look cool, have lots of detail but on my screens at least (which are boosted to high brightness) half the time I can only make out the ship inside the HUD target icon when it occludes background stars

I don't need them to be shining brightly but if they reflected even the amount of light a station does it would be a boon to the visual imagery (for this player at least )

[Marvin]

Lots of airplanes (commercial and private) are painted light (even silvery) colors ... yet, at night, about all you see are the collision lights.

[DaveK]

Lots of airplanes (commercial and private) are painted light (even silvery) colors ... yet, at night, about all you see are the collision lights.

Yet there are ship mods that look really bright! mockerll's for example and there's a civ skin mod I've tried that is very clear

[WeirdWill]

Hello to everyone!

I started with Evochron Alliance and went over to Evochron Legends after testing the Evochron Renegades demo. Recently I bought Evochron Mercenary and Arvoch Alliance.

The Evochron series has come a long way and is improved with every iteration. The flying mechanics / systems are unmatched so far and the ability to design your ship is great!

Mercenary is overall a big improvement for me and the best in the series so far with the best balancing. Things I would like to see further improved/changed are:

- the reputation system seems a bit off. The general idea is great providing a lot of diversification. But unfortunately it leads to some inconsistencies:
I flew out of the station in Saphire and attacked a navy ship (which was friendly green).
What happened? It took some time till it reacted and started attacking me. What was surprising was that the other navy ships around didn't attack me. Even more surprising, these ships started helping me attacking their buddy and destroying him. Other civilian ships joined in, too (the friendly green ones).
I can see the system works as intended (means as programmed) but I think it doesn't make for a good playing experience. I think the factions system should be more defined and my suggestion would be:
- ALL Navy ships in range should attack you if you attack one of them or an Energy/Miner
- Traders / other civilians should never assist you if you start attacking the navy

Another odd thing was when I flew out of the Saphire station and initiated a trade request; I got lucky because it was smuggler who dumped his cargo. The problem is the cargo was worth 1.5 millions which I could sell easily a the station. That was 5 minutes in the game.
I got this money for free without doing anything for it without the slightest risk. I think it's great that such an option is available, but I think if you decide to scoop the cargo there should be some risk involved; e.g. navy should get hostile / reputation should drop to get threatened as hostile (maybe give you a 5 sec. countdown to dump the cargo before starting to shoot)

Another thing I would like to see is collision detection with some damage when bumping into stations/debris. Makes docking and the like more fun for me when I have to watch out a bit

What else?

- Maybe making the difference between Alliance and Federation more noticeable as factions
- The walkers are a nice addition which could be further expanded. How about some combat missions where you have to engage other walkers or hunt down some strange big alien wildlife? Maybe capture a small base/outpost as mission? Or spy on an outpost (going in a specified range of an outpost and wait till you have gathered enaough data via timer and hoping you don't get spotted)? Or steal something from an outpost (similar to recon but you have to stand in the outpost by killing the enemies present and further enemies could arrive/spawn outside the base to attack you)? Or a scientific mission where you have to find some specific wildlife on a planet.
- Bombing missions to attack bases on a planet with your ship.
- Missions with scanning / spying on bases with the risk of getting caught and attacked.

[Edited on 24-8-2014 by WeirdWill]

[PaulB]

I've been looking at mockerll's new skins for ships (http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtop ... #pid172570) They seem to be very 'bright' and visible.

In an attempt to work out just how big are ships are compared to gates and stations and capitals ships I've taken many, many screenshots and it's very difficult to see the default ships, without some major crude processing in Photoshop to increase their brightness and contrast with the background.

Is there a reason that our ships blend so well into the background? Is there a way of increasing their visibility? If not then I request that either the default visibility is increased or there is an option to switch between 'hiding in the dark' (as now), being somewhat visible when at a medium distance and being quite bright (like mockerll's skins)

I'd like to see what killing me! . . . and the eye candy of the ship designs floating around the Evoverse!

I think the main problem with ship textures in EM is they are just rather dark so you don't see much detail. Some of it could be texture/lighting processing in DirectX - I don't know.
But for example, take Privateer Gemini Gold and Vegastrike.
Both games use the vegastrike engine but PGG is using an older version and Vegastrike is using a newer version.
I took the Privateer Galaxy ship and imported it into Vegastrike.
in both games the texture lighting, reflections, etc are good but in vegasrtike using the new VS engine there is a bit more brightness and reflectiveness on the Galaxy.

So my conclusion is that it's more just a matter of the textures themselves being darker images rather than a DirectX lighting or shader/reflective issue.

I'd like to see a bit lighter/brighter textures for the ships.
The Stations, asteriods, etc. in EM certainly look fine so it can't be DirectX.
But some of the "community made ships & textures" in Vegastrike are just downright awful so I know I'd want Vice to only use quality textures and not some silly junk.

It takes a lot of talent (and time and effort) to make good textures for any model.

[WeirdWill]

Some variety in the textures would probably be good. The navy ships and bigships arent customizable in design though maybe they could get their own textures with unique paintshops to differentiate them more from the civil ships?

[DaveK]

Some variety in the textures would probably be good. The navy ships and bigships arent customizable in design though maybe they could get their own textures with unique paintshops to differentiate them more from the civil ships?

It might be nice if the Navy ships reflected their allegiance - Federation and Alliance

[Maarschalk]

I'd like to see what killing me! . . .

Ussually it is right in front of us, but we ignore to listen or to see it!.....:P:P:P:P

[DaveK]

I'd like to see what killing me! . . .

Ussually it is right in front of us, but we ignore to listen or to see it!.....:P:P:P:P

Usually it's sneaked up behind me and hitting me from a direction I can't fathom before I blow up :P:P:P

[SeeJay]

I'd like to see what killing me! . . .

Ussually it is right in front of us, but we ignore to listen or to see it!.....:P:P:P:P

Usually it's sneaked up behind me and hitting me from a direction I can't fathom before I blow up :P:P:P

That would be me!:P;):D

[DaveK]

That would be me!:P;):D

Sigh . . . and you're the leader of my clan - HB is a hard nosed clan! :P:P:P

[SeeJay]

That would be me!:P;):D

Sigh . . . and you're the leader of my clan - HB is a hard nosed clan! :P:P:P

Got to keep you on your toes mate!:D;)
Always be aware of what's going on around you!:)

[Marvin]

Tough love.

[DaveK]

Anyway, I know what's around me in space - dark, death, doom and destruction!

[Maarschalk]

I'd like to see what killing me! . . .

Usually it is right in front of us, but we ignore to listen or to see it!.....:P:P:P:P

Usually it's sneaked up behind me and hitting me from a direction I can't fathom before I blow up :P:P:P

That would be me!:P;):D

I was more reffering to Alcohol, Cigarettes, Drugs, Unhealthy eating habits, Unsafe practices of a certain kind.......and of course than there is SeeJay!.......:P:P:P:P:P

[Skylee]

Hello again,

I was thinking about some mission type that could be added to the quest system, in order to add some variety to the mid-long time game experience.
Here are some random suggestions:

SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS
-Scanning unknown object/strange asteroid/space anomaly using a specific equipment, that will get scientific information to transmit to the contractor.
-Gathering sample from planet/moon/asteroid, using a specific device mounted on TW(for example) adding some difficult (hazardous environment...enemy TW...)
-Exploring an uncharted sector/zone or planet/moon surface

EMERGENCY MISSIONS
-Rescue some civilian from a dying colony/space station ( specific equipment required? ) maybe some of the rescued civilian could be hired and join the player's crew.
-Rescue crashed spacecraft crew on moon/planet surface (maybe more than 1 player is needed to accomodate stranded crew?)
-Emergency repair a spaceship/starbase before it blows up ( specific equip? )


Any surface-type mission could be forced to be completed if the player has the TerrainWalker ( with some kind of gear installed?)

Any of these mission could randomly have different incidents that could be linked , such as:
-the object to gather is in custody of some enemies,
-the strange asteroid is some kind of alien artifact that will teleport the player to an unknown location,
-the uncharted zone has a secret stash with some valuable minerals/equipment,
-there is a battle in the target zone and the player risks to get involved,
-a secret station is located close to the space anomaly,
-player ship is malfunctioning due to the hazardous environment,
-a time bomb is triggered once the player enter some cave asteroid/retrive the element to gather
-the crashed spacecraft crew is dead and the distress call is still working (trap) and enemies/aliens? are hidden nearby
-...

[Maarschalk]

Hello again,

I was thinking about some mission type that could be added to the quest system, in order to add some variety to the mid-long time game experience.
Here are some random suggestions:

SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS
-Scanning unknown object/strange asteroid/space anomaly using a specific equipment, that will get scientific information to transmit to the contractor.
-Gathering sample from planet/moon/asteroid, using a specific device mounted on TW(for example) adding some difficult (hazardous environment...enemy TW...)
-Exploring an uncharted sector/zone or planet/moon surface

EMERGENCY MISSIONS
-Rescue some civilian from a dying colony/space station ( specific equipment required? ) maybe some of the rescued civilian could be hired and join the player's crew.
-Rescue crashed spacecraft crew on moon/planet surface (maybe more than 1 player is needed to accomodate stranded crew?)
-Emergency repair a spaceship/starbase before it blows up ( specific equip? )


Any surface-type mission could be forced to be completed if the player has the TerrainWalker ( with some kind of gear installed?)

Any of these mission could randomly have different incidents that could be linked , such as:
-the object to gather is in custody of some enemies,
-the strange asteroid is some kind of alien artifact that will teleport the player to an unknown location,
-the uncharted zone has a secret stash with some valuable minerals/equipment,
-there is a battle in the target zone and the player risks to get involved,
-a secret station is located close to the space anomaly,
-player ship is malfunctioning due to the hazardous environment,
-a time bomb is triggered once the player enter some cave asteroid/retrive the element to gather
-the crashed spacecraft crew is dead and the distress call is still working (trap) and enemies/aliens? are hidden nearby
-...

Hi SkyLee, welcome to the game and forum!

All of these have been implemented in one form or another, I see that you are new to the game! There are some nebulaes with electrical interference that makes some of your equipment mall function, There are missing and or unknown objects to be scanned, There are uncharted systems to be explored, There are planets to be scanned and surveyed, There are distress calls and rescue missions. There are time bombs(mines) that can be deployed in Caves and other places......etc.....etc....etc....:P

[Marvin]

And you can edit the text.dat file if you want to change the wording for some of the contracts. Just remember to save your modded file in case you update the game.

[DaveK]

Hello again,

I was thinking about some mission type that could be added to the quest system, in order to add some variety to the mid-long time game experience.
Here are some random suggestions:

SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS
-Scanning unknown object/strange asteroid/space anomaly using a specific equipment, that will get scientific information to transmit to the contractor. good extension to the scan a cap ship contract! - there are lots of possibilities that spring to mind!
-Gathering sample from planet/moon/asteroid, using a specific device mounted on TW(for example) adding some difficult (hazardous environment...enemy TW...) you can already take planetary contracts using the TW - survey/scan an area or retrieve objects or mine materials. Because of the way TW work, they require an atmosphere, so (at the moment) asteroids, moons, outsides of stations, wrecks in space etc are not possible. See The Mercenary Technical Guide for more details of TW's - available from all good station bookshops . . . and SeeJay's site
-Exploring an uncharted sector/zone or planet/moon surface

EMERGENCY MISSIONS
-Rescue some civilian from a dying colony/space station ( specific equipment required? ) maybe some of the rescued civilian could be hired and join the player's crew. There already rescue missions that appear at random on your HUD - take water to planet X, medical supplies to Y etc. Also included is deliver fuel to stranded pilots. At one time there used to be taxi contracts as well!
-Rescue crashed spacecraft crew on moon/planet surface (maybe more than 1 player is needed to accommodate stranded crew?) A good addition to the military contracts of search and retrieve escape pods - which is the mil version of find and return containers. Having to find a rescue pod on a moon or planet would be fun, though you'd have to do it from the ship on a moon.
-Emergency repair a spaceship/starbase before it blows up ( specific equip? ) Not sure what the engineering guild members would make of non-union people repairing stations , but repairing stranded ships would be a new twist to just providing fuel. Perhaps a C3 repair unit and time would be sufficient?

Any surface-type mission could be forced to be completed if the player has the TerrainWalker ( with some kind of gear installed?)

Any of these mission could randomly have different incidents that could be linked , such as:
-the object to gather is in custody of some enemies,
-the strange asteroid is some kind of alien artifact that will teleport the player to an unknown location, there are some scattered around, but not as part of contracts. There are only two recognised aliens species in the Evoverse -and one of those is perhaps only a rumour - though several trustworthy pilots have filed reports of LGM
-the uncharted zone has a secret stash with some valuable minerals/equipment, If it's to be uncharted and secret then it can't really be part of a contract
-there is a battle in the target zone and the player risks to get involved, there are take out the baddies / guard a capital ship until it can jump / do (single and multi waypoint) combat contracts available already, but in space. Introducing AI TW's as opponents would add a new area of TW use.
-a secret station is located close to the space anomaly, there are secret / uncharted 'things' in the Evoverse already
-player ship is malfunctioning due to the hazardous environment, try landing on a gas giant or Earth
-a time bomb is triggered once the player enter some cave asteroid/retrive the element to gather. having contracts with a timed element would be a new twist. At the moment the guard a cap ship contract and the rescue missions are the only times ones I think. The taxi contracts were times - the fare was reduced (greatly!) if you took too long!
-the crashed spacecraft crew is dead and the distress call is still working (trap) and enemies/aliens? are hidden nearby
-...

There's a lot of intriguing ideas here!