Greetings from Canada!

[Jaramr]

Just heard about this game a few days back when reading a space sim thread on another forum, and I am bloody excited about Mercenary.

Although I have one question, can you have AI turrets on your ship?

Ive come from playing X3 a lot, and Ive sort of gotten used to having two anti-missile turrets on my heavy fighter, or several anti-fighter turrets on my gunboat, which also reminds me, just how big is Centurion/Leviathan frames? Are they a really large fighter, or a gunboat or corvette sort of ship?

I'm waiting until the 17th to buy the game (Hopefully Mercenary comes out that day, Fridays are the best days for game releases.) but from what Ive seen so far it looks completely fantastic. I'm not quite sure how big the team is for this game, but if its just Vice doing his life's work, then hats off to him.

Here's to a good release on the 17th!

[MMaggio]

No, no AI turrets, but what is really cool is that another player can man the turret while in MP !

[Maarschalk]

Hi Jaramr, welcome to Evochron and the forum. Hope to see you out there some time...

[Vice]

Hi Jaramr and welcome,

There aren't AI turrets for ships (which could be generally considered 'fighters') currently, but that's actually something I've been pondering adding. There are some changes required to the multiplayer system to accommodate the additional weapon packet data along with a lot of other internal changes needed. There'd also need to be a way to establish when they should fire, how (MDTS or direct or switchable), and at what target (highest threat or closest threat for example). Plus, any options for them would need additional key input controls and/or menu functions. Once I establish how basic or complex it needs to be, I'll have a better idea of what kinds of things need to be done to implement it and how feasible it might be to add. In the meantime, players can man a gun turret on another human controlled ship.

You can install a semi-effective anti-missile system on your ship in the new game however, that is a new implemented equipment option. Hope you enjoy the game!

[Jaramr]

Ah, that makes sense. The X3 Turret Scripts are notoriously bad. So much that there is actually a mod that replaces them entirely.

Nonetheless, the anti-missile beam-thing sounds pretty cool, and im looking forward to using it.

If any of you have played X3, how does this stack up to it? X3 always felt very small in its game world and limited in combat options. Although to be fair, it was from the start supposed to be a trading game, and the Giant Evil Corporation Sim does a good job, but again, the actual space sim part was a bit bad.

Also another question, are the nebulae you see in the background, well, actual nebulae that you can fly to? I was always disappointed with that part in other space sims, that you cant really pick one direction and fly that way.

[MMaggio]

Yes, you can fly into some of the nebulas and comparing X3 to Mercenary is like comparing Atari 2600 to Playstation 3.
Does that answer your question ?

[Marvin]

The Evochron universe is what brought me to the game. Unlike X3, this universe is not made up of little boxes. You can, if you feel the need, plot destination coordinates for any place in the galaxy (or beyond), set your autopilot, and go get lunch. And dinner. And, possibly breakfast.

And, when you return to your computer, you won't find yourself having made a few dozen loops around a closed sector of space. Instead, you'll be far, far from your starting point ... and, most likely, from many of the other mapped star systems.

[Jaramr]

Hah. I am loving this game already.

Can't wait for the 17th. Hope to see you guys out in space!

[Marvin]

Count on it. If not sooner, then at least ASAP.

[Blackthorne]

If any of you have played X3, how does this stack up to it? X3 always felt very small in its game world and limited in combat options. Although to be fair, it was from the start supposed to be a trading game, and the Giant Evil Corporation Sim does a good job, but again, the actual space sim part was a bit bad.

Also another question, are the nebulae you see in the background, well, actual nebulae that you can fly to? I was always disappointed with that part in other space sims, that you cant really pick one direction and fly that way.

All of the "background" in Evochron...isn't.

If you can see it, you can go there, be it a planet, star, black hole or nebula. There is no "skybox" beyond some starry background, everything else is is a game object and can be interacted with. Even the rings around some of the planets.


As for the X3 comparison...they're pretty different. The X-Series went from what was a fun space sim/shooter with trading elements to a intergalactic business simulator.
X3, in my humble opinion, has a learning curve much akin to running full tilt into a brick wall (mostly due to the rather atrocious user interface) and gets gummed up with micromanagement halfway through the game. The actual "flying and shooting" part always felt a bit underdeveloped. There was a clear lack of "acceptable targets" besides the Xenon, who generally stayed within their designated sectors, and dogpiled on anyone who entered them, and the Khaak, which were rare and merely annoying most of the time.

Evochron focuses on one ship, a smallish fightercraft. Frames like the Leviathan stretch that definition a bit, but even the most sluggish of frames isn't a capital ship in the way a M6 or M7-class craft in X is.

The learning curve for Evochron is rather steep, too, but the basic flight training helps a lot, and the game is much simpler to grasp, at least as far as the math involved is concerned.

Evochron's flight model is newtonian; while there is an arcade-type flight model available (you can switch between them with the space bar), it's only useful for precision maneuvering. Using it in combat means you'll be dead soonish, so learning the other one is essential.
Dogfights therefore look a lot different in Evochron than in X. The ability to change the ship's orientation independent of the flight vector makes turrets much less useful than they are in X.

There also used to be only two basic types of guns in Evochron (as opposed to the numerous types of energy weapons available in terran conflict), a hitscan beam that drains shields and a particle gun that works pretty much like a machine gun.

Mercenary adds a few side effects (like shield drain or knockback) to certain particle guns, but the visuals are still rather plain.

Missiles are a lot more useful than in the early X games, but also much more limited in quantity. There's also countermeasures available, and you can gun down incoming missiles manually rather easily. Unfortunately, you will have to do so in order to survive.

There is a lot of randomization involved in Evochron, from available equipment to NPC reactions, opposed to the thoroughly calculated market and NPC standings in the X-series. Trade is more akin to Elite, with prices based on economy type and location, modified by random price fluctuations inside a certain range.

The X universe is pretty static; there are few surprises besides the occasional hidden ship or a station that's a few klicks off the ecliptic. Evochron, on the other hand, managed to hide entire star systems in the void between the handful of mapped systems. A few of those "secret locations" are next to impossible to find, though.
I hear that Mercenary allows you to see stellar objects from a far greater distance than Legends, so an aspiring explorer might be able to find a lot of interesting things just by keeping his eyes open (as opposed to going sourcediving, which is no longer possible in Mercenary).

From the number of systems, Evochron seems smaller at first than the X-Universe with it's countless sectors. Once you dig a little deeper, however, you'll realize that a vast amount of the content is hidden out there somewhere. A bit like an iceberg, really.

Is it a better game? Hard to tell. It's different. If you want to build an empire and command a capital ship, you'll obviously enjoy X3 more, since the first feature is implemented rudimentarily at best and the second is non-existant.
But if you want to explore the great unknown in a unique ship of your own, accepting missions to pay for the necessities to do so and maybe found your own "safe haven" somewhere out there, you'll probably enjoy Evochron more.

There's also multiplayer, something which the X-series utterly lacks, that adds to the enjoyability of the game. Since singleplayer profiles also double as multiplayer ones, it's rather easy to get in and out of.

Blackthorne, hits you with wall of text for 3d10 damage.

[Edited on 15-9-2010 by Blackthorne]

[MMaggio]

Good explanation Blackthorne except that in Mercenary, SP & MP profiles are NOT interchangeable.

[Takle]

Welcome aboard!;)

[Blackthorne]

Originally posted by MMaggio
Good explanation Blackthorne except that in Mercenary, SP & MP profiles are NOT interchangeable.

Define "not interchangeable".

I know that the stations one has built in SP don't carry over, but if you need to create separate profiles for single and MP, that pretty much kills the MP part dead for me.

So, please elaborate.

-Blackthorne

[MMaggio]

If you play MP and build a station or two and /or gain control over
a sector, that information is stored in the server, not on your HD.
You can, however use that same profile in SP and continue building personal wealth, ie; credits and gaining kills, but the stations you built and whatever territorial gains you made in MP, will not be shown.
You can then use that same profile & return to MP and it will have all the monetary gains and kills recorded and of course, you will now have access to the stations you built and the control, if any, you previously had in MP
The same goes for any stations and/or teritorial gains you acquired in SP will not appear when you return to MP.
I hope that explains it!

[49rTbird]

Hello Jaramr, Welcome to the forum and the Sim. Have fun and hope to see you out there sometime.

[Marvin]

Between Blackthorn and MMaggio, that pretty much covers it ... except, don't underestimate the new capabilities of MP. They are totally unique. They are (I suspect) Vice's subtle way of forcing more interaction between players.

[warsign]

Welcome aboard...

[BraveHart]

"Welcome Aboard Jaramr".....You'll Love Mercenary