Mercenary craft, state your purpose...

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 3:57 pm

This is mercernary designation iBeej and I'm a new pilot requesting permission to dock at Evochron forums. Over.

Ok that was extremely nerdy, but I would like to say hello to all of you and introduce myself. First off, I would like to congratulate Vice on building such a deep, immersive, feature rich space simulation game over the years. Vice, you have done a stellar job and trust me when I say, that's a lot coming from me. I am a relentless critic of this genre and there aren't many games I can say that about. In fact, I can't believe I'm saying it, as we have been conditioned over so many years that it takes an entire team of people to develop a "good" game, yet this genre is saturated with the exact same pitfalls and game mechanics that has ultimately stagnated the growth of the space genre. Yet, here you are, one guy, that has done what nearly everybody has failed to do. (That includes Derek Smart) I admire and commend you sir.

I have played just about every space game you can think of. Even the MMO games like E&B, EVE, SWG, Star Trek, among others, like the web browser games, etc. I played around with Battlecruiser, and even Vendetta Online which is probably the closest thing to Evochron but still not even close. I got in to Descent and Freespace in the early years, and used to play singleplayer games like Imperium Galactica, Homeworld, Sins of a Solar empire, and a few others. I also play with iPhone games and was dissappointed with Galaxy on Fire but rather enjoyed Warp Gate. I have been a follower of Jumpgate Evolution, Black Prophecy, and Infinity: The Quest for Earth. They look great and all but they are all MMO based and I'm pretty tired of it. I think the closest thing you will have to competition in realism will be Infinity. His engine is nothing short of amazing and has some of the most realistic planet descents I have ever seen.

Probably one of my dearest favorites out of all of them is X3. But my biggest complaint about this game is the loading and traveling. I'm not a big fan of long travel mechanics or speeding up time. More than anything, I always wanted a game where I FELT like I was really in space. Realistically as possible but keeping it fun. Evochron has achieved that and I'm very pleased with it.

Excellent job Vice, truly.

Now for some constructive criticism. (Thought you were in the clear, ha!)

1.) I absolutely cannot stand the trade interface. It looks clunky and outdated. I would like to see a much more polished browsing interface for goods, news, and managing inventory. EVE, Black Prophecy, and the X3 games have done a very good job presenting all this information with their clean interface. Less distracting colors. In Evochron, whenever I pull up the inventory or map screens, this breaks immersion for me as it looks and feels clunky and video game like. I would like to see a more realistic looking star and quadrant map. One that shows star clusters, like a mini visual representation of what you would see once you discovered it.

2.) I love warping. With Evochron so centered around the hyperdrive it needs to showcase this visually. Whenever I activate the thing, I can't clearly see things around me blowing past. The screen goes white and washes out the visuals which gives you an almost "load screen" feeling. I was impressed with EVE and how realistic their warp system is. Your surroundings move slowly and then blow past you as the speed increases. Obviously Evochron is different because it's a hyper drive and nearly instant, but it would be much better to see out of your cockpit clearly.

3.) I'm not a huge fan of the visual warp effects of other craft. Would like to see it polished more. Nothing big, just a minor gripe.

4.) At some point I would love to see more X3 mechanics in Evochron related to the purchase and management of additonal ships. Managing fleets. Especially the ability to pilot an actual capital ship. It would be a great thing to own multiple ships some time.

5.) Sovereignty! It would be a huge sense of accomplishment to allow player built trading structures for the purpose of establishing an empire and claiming sovereignty of systems. Rather than being "lone wolf" literally all the time... Being able to take over the cosmos.

Really, the above items are just things I noticed and have on my own personal wishlist. The game is truly amazing and nothing in the world can compare to it. I am looking forward to all the future updates and seeing all if you in game!

Just go easy on me, I'm new....

Beej

[Edited on 4-17-2010 by iBeej]

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:45 pm

Hello iBeej , Welcome to the forum and the Sim. See you out there sometime.

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:09 pm

Thanks! Oh and I forgot to mention something so important and one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, I posted in the first place. We have all been on forums. And I gotta say, this is the most helpful, friendly, and mature community I have ever seen. Everybody is so passionate about this game and loyal fans. Everybody is so helpful and positive. It's extremely refreshing and I'm really happy to be here.

If there is anybody out there who would be willing to show me the ropes, I would love to join you.

You guys rock! See you in Evochron.

BEEJ

soulsacrifice · Post by **soulsacrifice** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:13 pm

Hi iBeej, welcome to the forum. I agree with your sentiments reguarding the fun/realistic balance of the game.

I really like your ideas, espcially the one asbout Sovereignty, owning a part of space would add a lot of fun and rivalry in the multiplayer. If you had the ability to build stations and ships to defent your area of space (while you're not online) it would make for some entertaining multiplayer experiences - bigger clans could hold bigger areas of space, or trade routes and charge for safe passage through their space. The cost in materials and cash would also give players more reason to continue earning money/trading with other players for resources scarce in their area of space.

Obviously that would be too great a change for legends but perhaps something Vice could consider for the next Evochron game?

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:57 pm

Hi iBeej, welcome to the game and forum, hope to see you out there. Most of us will go easy on newbies and are very helpfull, except for Romulan and some Bad Aliens. Bad Aliens will go easy on you in a Bad/Good kind of way like a welcome ceremony....LOL....But Romulan on the other hand like to kick helpless pupies in the behind without warning or mercy and does not talk If He/She does talk to you He/She ain't Romulan...So watch out for Romulan.......

:P:P:P:P

Post by **Marvin** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:58 pm

Originally posted by iBeej

5.) Sovereignty! It would be a huge sense of accomplishment to allow player built trading structures for the purpose of establishing an empire and claiming sovereignty of systems. Rather than being "lone wolf" literally all the time... Being able to take over the cosmos.

One of the unique facets of Legends is its crossover between single player and multiplayer. So, imagine what would happen if a player built an empire in one of the star sytems ... doing it in single player. Then jumping into multiplayer and trying to convince one of the other players that he (or she) has sovereign rights over a vast area of the galaxy.

Amazingly, guys in multiplayer have already done just about all that can be done in this area: claiming Pearl. What they can't do is build a fortress to defend their territory when not logged on.

Come to think of it ... an option to build most anything in single player would void the ability to move freely between SP and MP. Which is probably one reason why the "X" series is only single player and no other MP game (that I know of) has the same interconnectivity as Evochron.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 6:58 pm

Good point Marvin.....Yes, multiplayer would loose it functionality.....

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 9:13 pm

Yeah that would muddy the multiplayer waters. It would be a good single player feature. But the idea of owning your stations is a really cool thought. Im sure there is some way to do it but I would rather see VICE focus on other important things.

I'm doing pretty good as a newbie so far. I have a raven frame and some nice things. I have been mining gold and platinum on planets. Gotta say though it's boring as hell. Need to find something else to do. Is there any way to invest in a steady stream of income? Or does everything require labor of some sort?

BEEJ

BraveHart · Post by **BraveHart** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 10:28 pm

"Welcome Aboard iBeej"....Looking forward to seeing you in MP

only a few Hostile Aliens to worry about

but there are a lot of Pilots that would be happy to show you the ropes.

Accountant · Post by **Accountant** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:26 pm

Welcome iBeej! I hope to see you in mp sometime!

Is there any way to invest in a steady stream of income?

No, everything is going to require labor of some sort. It helps to keep the player involved in the game.

-Accountant

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 1:09 am

Thanks all! I don't know where you guys are, I have been in Bab5 ALL DAY! Actually, there is a good reason for that.... (aside from the game rockin) I sort of made a big noob mistake and tried warping around to explore.......

Nobody told me it was that EASY to get completely and utterly lost.

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 2:25 am

Originally posted by iBeej
Thanks all! I don't know where you guys are, I have been in Bab5 ALL DAY! Actually, there is a good reason for that.... (aside from the game rockin) I sort of made a big noob mistake and tried warping around to explore.......

Nobody told me it was that EASY to get completely and utterly lost.

And always save to a pilot file so you can start over if you can not find your way back or if you can not get help.

:D:P

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 3:12 am

That's the only thing that saved me.

soulsacrifice · Post by **soulsacrifice** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 3:16 am

Originally posted by iBeej
Nobody told me it was that EASY to get completely and utterly lost.

You can always add coordinates manually to return to the center of a system. You can find the sector coords in the quadrant map, and enter them into SX, SY and SZ, then enter 0,0,0 for the others to return to the center of that system (providing you have enough fuel, of course). There's always willing pilots to come and rescue you if you do manage to run out of fuel and save the game in lost space.

[Edited on 4-18-2010 by soulsacrifice]

Post by **Marvin** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 3:38 am

Sunday is usually a good time to find other pilots on B5's server ... somewhere around noon, Pacific time. And some of us are getting pretty good at playing "Gas Truck."

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 5:45 am

Awesome! I don't play singleplayer so I'll almost always be in B5 when I play. It's definitely more interesting and less lonely. And you don't see WoW idiots yelling obscenities in chat.

How much you wanna bet most EL players are 20+ years in age?

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:30 am

Well folks, I literally played Evochron all day. I just had an absolute blast blowing things up with MiaZ tonight, and now it's 2:30 in the morning and my wife is ready to kill me lol. Need to increase my faction standing with spouse.

Can't wait to see everybody else in Evochron!

MiaZ · Post by **MiaZ** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 9:08 am

Originally posted by iBeej
Well folks, I literally played Evochron all day. I just had an absolute blast blowing things up with MiaZ tonight, and now it's 2:30 in the morning and my wife is ready to kill me lol. Need to increase my faction standing with spouse.

Can't wait to see everybody else in Evochron!

Yeah that was fun tonight. : )
It is good to see you online. Evochron has been a little too quiet lately. I am seeing a few new players which is good. Not seeing very many from the early days though , but that could be because of my timezone here.

My wife hates it when i stay up late too. lol... thats life.
so i play in the late morning and after lunch, which would be late at night over there.

DennyMala · Post by **DennyMala** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:21 am

Originally posted by Marvin
Sunday is usually a good time to find other pilots on B5's server ... somewhere around noon, Pacific time. And some of us are getting pretty good at playing "Gas Truck."

LOL!

Ravenfeeder · Post by **Ravenfeeder** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 2:19 pm

Welcome to the game, and the forum, Ibeej. The complaints/suggestions, that you made, on your top post, are, strangely enough, made by most new pilots. I did similar when I first started ER.

I think that we have been conditioned, by other games, to expect some sort of story line, and, it takes a while to understand that we, ourselves, the pilots, are our own story line. EL offers you the opportunity to go anwyere, do anything, you want. The only restraint is your own understanding of the game, an understanding that improves as you become more familiar with this most excellent game.

Sure, mining is boring, but, there is a satisfaction in watching your funds mount up - working away to get the funding to buy anything that you want, if you can find it! There are trading routes that pay up to and over 50m a run - you just have to find them.

Enjoy.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 2:41 pm

Yup, and one way to explore and enjoy this game is doing the 2 beacon quests, unless you hate getting lost....LOL....

:P:P:P:P:P

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 4:38 am

LOL!!!

Yeah, Romulan signed on today. He ganked a couple people. Poor Rotor was killed like 3 times. I watched his coords and he tried to come after me but I led him off in to deep space in a warp chase. Never found me did ya Romulan?

You quit faster than I thought you would. More bark than bite eh?

Guess I'm not noob enough for ya!

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 4:47 pm

LOL....Yes Romulan is terrible at hunting, that is why he only kicks puppies in their nests, and the ones that can outsmart and out run the fox he will never get...

:P:P:P:P

[Edited on 4-19-2010 by Maarschalk]

warsign · Post by **warsign** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:50 am

LOL.

Romulan is our most lovely enemy. I'm so glad you met with him.

See you in Mp...

iBeej · Post by **iBeej** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 4:40 am

I dunno... I have a theory Romulan was abused by a rookie as a child...