Backstage - OOC Forums
EVE-Online RP Discussion and Resources => EVE OOC Summit => Topic started by: Shaalira on 20 Apr 2011, 09:32
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(http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7012/cqscreenie1.jpg)
As you all know, the Captain's Quarter feature is now available for testing in Duality. CCP said that it's in a rough, early state and it definitely shows - expect a lot of graphical errors, CTDs, and bugs. I'll leave the discussion of the bugs to the test server forum.
Character Animation
The character animation tends to be believable, without too much uncanny valley effect. Like a lot of isometric and third-person RPGs, the character engages in a number of 'idle' animations when you're not doing anything. She will look around, idly examine her hand, and make the various expressions of a tourist taking in the sights.
There's currently no direct control of these animations. There are no controls you can use to direct your character to shrug, wave, etc. Given that CQ is an instanced, private area, it's quite possible that that kind of interaction control might not be implemented in this iteration.
You can sit down on the couch. This is rather buggy and you may end up hovering on the area in front of it. Also, walking animations in general could use a lot of work - particularly in pacing the area covered to the animation and convincingly going up and down stairs.
The character does react to her environment. If you move her right up to the big display screens, she'll look up t them and adjust the angle of her head and eyes accordingly.
Controls and Interaction
Movement is basic. You move using the 'WSAD' keys familiar to anyone that's played a first-person shooter. To adjust the camera angle, you can use the same left-click drag or right-click hold mouse controls that work for ship flight. There is no running (or jumping, or crouching).
To interact with objects, you walk close to them and right-click to get a menu. For example, you manually walk close to the couch then right-click on it to get the option to sit on it.
The various displays in your captain's quarters correspond to in-game menus. The big planet screen sends you to your PI tab in the Industry menu. Clicking on the ship model lets you access your fitting window. There's a small holofeed on the table that sends you to an agent finder function.
You can still use the menus and station buttons as normal. The CQ environment loads up automaticly when you dock.
There is a balcony area where you can walk up and view your ship. Be warned that small ships will seem very distant and small. I flew in with an interceptor, and it was a little smidge from afar.
Communication
There are no talk bubbles or related animation functionality in this iteration. Chat windows are kept open when you dock and the CQ environment loads up, and you can access your EVEmail, browser, etc.
General Impression
The Captain's Quarter is the very first iteration of Incarna, and is a private, instanced environment. As such, the social features that many RPers would be particularly interested in - talking with other characters in person, directing their avatar like an actor in a story - are still a long ways off.
Still, if the bugs are ironed out and all the rough edges smoothed, it does have a lot of potential for immersion. I do appreciate the attempt to give most of the objects some functionality (even if they are largely redundant with the station menu and neocom options). I imagine players will take the time to walk up to their viewscreens (and activate them with a dramatic wave of the hand) when they're feeling particularly into their character.
As for new player retention, it is a nice bit of eye candy and helps smoothen out the culture shock of people coming in from traditional MMORPGs.
(http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/2064/cqscreenie2.jpg)
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Nice, downloading now. The Minmatar CQ don't appear as rustic as the station itself...perhaps Minmatar stations will get an update?
Also, hooray for Gallentean jackets and uplifted busts?
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Movement is basic. You move using the 'WSAD' keys familiar to anyone that's played a first-person shooter.
Fuck that noise. Click-move today, click-move tomorrow, click-move forever!
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Sounds decent. My major fear is that CCP will derp somewhere along the way and force you to interact with the station environment instead of using the UI buttons.
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If that's your major fear, then they're doing pretty well.
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It's niffty I guess. It's nothing like how I imagined Hamish's clothes or in station living quarters would look like, but guess it does look pretty.
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It is promising. I will be happy to have this replace the stationspin that we currently have now.
I hope there are body language templates though. Seriphyn fidgets, which is okay because the current model does so when walking or standing around (not idle animation in fact, animations take place even when walking)
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It's niffty I guess. It's nothing like how I imagined Hamish's clothes or in station living quarters would look like, but guess it does look pretty.
well, to be fair, these are made out to be basically a motel room in the stations you visit.
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Alms-- er, screenshots? Screenshots for the moderately-impoverished-and-short-on-drive-space?
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A few more here: http://www.evereport.com/content/close-quarters.html
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Being as I often imagine Aria hanging out on a sofa or in a chair while chatting over Galnet or checking market figures, I have been looking forward to this feature so damn much. Actually getting to interact with people will, of course, be better, but having visuals to shape my imaginings is an excellent start.
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The total lack of guests means that this, for now, is a pure "nice to have but meh" thing.
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Click to move is less like trying to control a cow in a shopping cart than WASD, but still clunkier than it should be
Other than that there's lots of little graphical annoying things and not much to do so I shot at navy in my impairor until I had a CTD and that sums up my experience with CQ
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I'm going to wait until this hits SiSi to pass judgement, to be honest. I feel there'd be far too little data this early in the development process to form an opinion.
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Alms-- er, screenshots? Screenshots for the moderately-impoverished-and-short-on-drive-space?
As requested...
[spoiler]
(http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1478/walkingfront.jpg)
Walking as seen from the front.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
(http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/8196/walkingback.jpg)
Walking as seen from behind.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
(http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/481/tinyship.jpg)
Having a small ship doesn't exactly make for a dramatic visual.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
(http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/7525/shipselection.jpg)
Ship swapping changes what's in the hangar view. How about that?
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
(http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/2691/cantouch.jpg)
I can just about touch it!
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
(http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/6203/sepiaflavored.jpg)
This part of the room could use a few more sepia-flavored viewscreens, don't you think?
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
(http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/4397/tooclose.jpg)
Mother always warned me about staying too close to the holofeeds.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
(http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/5456/buttonlady.jpg)
This lady looks vaguely familiar.
[/spoiler]
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Can I ask how long it takes to dock, change ship, and undock? Is it any slower than the current system?
I know this is a big concern for some of the people I've talked to.
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Can I ask how long it takes to dock, change ship, and undock? Is it any slower than the current system?
I know this is a big concern for some of the people I've talked to.
They remain unaffected. The station hangar environment is going to change though, I bet.
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It'd be badass if the hangers could show multiple ships now, or if they brought back pleasure hubs...but we all know the likelihood of that.
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Looks pretty sharp, I couldn't get duality to install on my computer to take a look at it myself.
Question how graphics intensive is it, I know you had to run your settings on high but what kind of processor and video card were you running plus how laggy was it?
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Can I ask how long it takes to dock, change ship, and undock? Is it any slower than the current system?
I know this is a big concern for some of the people I've talked to.
There is a period of time in which the CQ environment is still loading, but you can still use the station menus and normal neocom buttons. I believe you can just swap ships and leave station without waiting for CQ to load completely. The current build, however, is pretty unstable, and I tend to CTD if I push too hard.
Looks pretty sharp, I couldn't get duality to install on my computer to take a look at it myself.
Question how graphics intensive is it, I know you had to run your settings on high but what kind of processor and video card were you running plus how laggy was it?
I was using a laptop with a fairly recent ATI Radeon video card. FPS was low - around the 20-30 range.
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Just looking at how the avatar is using her body almost causes me physical pain.
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This is coming to Singularity eventually, right?
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This is coming to Singularity eventually, right?
Why not just go on Duality and check it? They've put alpha stuff on SiSi before. No difference.
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Just looking at how the avatar is using her body almost causes me physical pain.
I made up a female avatar and noted the same thing.
Arms are always waaay back, chest shoved out front. At All Times.
I don't know how they breathe like that. :|
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Remember how character creation was awful at first? Well the same for this.
It will be perfected once the bugs are taken care of, and all graphics assets are installed. I can't wait tbh
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I suggest bug reports about the avatar's stance if it looks unrealistic to you. That's why they have it out there right now. :)
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Maybe capsuleers in eve are simply more aware of good posture? It does look rather hot, you have to admit. :P
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...Female spines suffer from a type of curvature disorder due to prolonged exposure to a hydrostatic environment...
Also, I appreciated the Minmatar snarkiness on the Amarr-themed vid: "No Relevant Sov Data" 8)
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Yeah, it's clunky right now. I REALLY like the Incursions screen, they need more like it. They also need more stuff like the couch to interact with. Supposedly, CQ is staying one person, then the stations to walk in will come out, then establishments sometime this year. That's the general timeline from what I understand. Establishments will be what advances rp in EVE.
The test server was fortunate enough to bug out and let my female character run around naked. Good news there.
Oh, and feel free to delete a character on there asap so you can try out the new starter missions. I'm waiting out the timer currently.
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Wake me up when this is done. It's pretty much all I'm looking forward to from EVE at this point. :D
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As requested...
[screenshots]
Ah! Thank you much!
... Any from other racial station-types? Or do they all look the same right now?
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Only Minmatar atm, regardless of what station you're at.
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I got some screenshots from a Gallente station for the purposes of ship-size comparisons.
Machariel (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.04.21.01.30.33.jpg) - Chimera (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.04.21.01.32.07.jpg) - Abaddon (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.04.21.01.30.13.jpg)
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I got some screenshots from a Gallente station for the purposes of ship-size comparisons.
Machariel (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.04.21.01.30.33.jpg) - Chimera (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.04.21.01.32.07.jpg) - Abaddon (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.04.21.01.30.13.jpg)
It should be noted that the station Morwen displays size HUGELY better than Amarrian ones.
Example.
[spoiler](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Xander0070/20110422062318.jpg)[/spoiler]
[spoiler](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Xander0070/20110422062127.jpg)[/spoiler]
As you can see, the ships there (Archon and Widow respectively) look kinda small at that distance, you really dont get that feel of size and scale like in Morwens pics, honestly I hope they all end up like Morwens pics, because Wow, Awesome!
I also hope we can still station-spin ships from the CQ, because I get bored and slightly annoyed with the one static angle for the ships, I want MOAR!
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Made an alt to try the new NPE thing, but it was hugely glitchy - movement kept freezing, if your moving with W, you can't smoothly change to A,S or D without stopping, mashing buttons and hoping that it might move where you want, frustrating - but its very early, so that should get fixed hopefully.
What I would really love is like in the CCP video a while back introducing the Incarana stuff where the podder spills out of the Pod, goop and all onto the floor.
Do. Want.
however, another screeny - because I can
[spoiler](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Xander0070/20110421160157.jpg)[/spoiler]
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Made an alt to try the new NPE thing, but it was hugely glitchy - movement kept freezing, if your moving with W, you can't smoothly change to A,S or D without stopping,
I had the same problem. It was a huge pain for me to use wasd to begin with since I'm left handed and have my mouse on the left side of my keyboard, but you can remap them in the shortcuts section.
For a very early release it wasnt half bad, and I cant wait to see the polish get applied.
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I read in some blog posts that click-to-move (maybe double-click) also works, can anyone here confirm?
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I read in some blog posts that click-to-move (maybe double-click) also works, can anyone here confirm?
It does work, albeit with its own bugs and glitches. Double-clicking on a spot on the floor moves you in that direction. But, it sometimes fails to respond. Pathfinding is also a bit wonky - occasionally your character will stop and spin in circles.
Hopefully it will end up more responsive than manual piloting, where 'double-click' becomes 'mash mouse button in space until the ship turns, dammit.'
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The ships seem to get smaller when you get closer and larger as you walk away.
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can we get a screenie of the captains quarters from a minmatar station? Since that's where its going to end up and all?
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I apparently didn't get a good panoramic screenshot of most of the quarters, but you can see the basic design in this one:
[spoiler](http://i55.tinypic.com/6s9hkp.jpg)[/spoiler]
Also yeah, I looked and the posture and while it isn't terrible I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone who actually has bad posture and manages to pull their scapula further back then they are supposed to. The artists just need to make a minor adjustment and everything would be properly lined up as it should be too, so hopefully they do look at it.
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Claim those certificates, damnit.
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it looks like you have a few certificates there.
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Claim those certificates, damnit.
Now I'm obligated to not claim them. ;)
Never bothered with the system, I know what I need to train kthx.
Edit: Also, for whatever reason the sitting animation at least for Minmatar makes them look fucking terrible. I didn't take a screenshot, but next time I log into Duality I'll get one.
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Guys, remember that this is pre-alpha at the moment. Lots of things aren't working, are missing, etc. For instance I found the same thing about the female idle posture looking weird (and whorish, frankly), but the animations are all borked generally. I mean, just try sitting on a sofa with a female avatar. Trolol.
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My OCD is killing me, Misan. How hard is it to click the claim all certs button :bash:
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Obviously needs a good once or twice with the old bug-iron, but this is a very promising start, to me. I can't wait to see this stuff in social instances.
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New devblog.
http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=911
Bottom pic best pic!
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Their "descaling" of the ships to "show the smallest ships in all their glory" is a big immersion fail. It was already awkward before where ships looked like toys and not actual enormous metal beasts, but at least there was a size logic behind.
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I think they changed the distance rather than size.
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True.
Their main problem is that they lack of visual markings to put around the ships. Much like in space. Difficult to get an idea of the size of something if you can't compare it with something else around.
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Yeah, there really needs to be a better way to show the size of the ships.
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Is that an ash tray? (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/community/devblog/2011/EVE_Online_Incarna_Tempest_WiP.png)
Izzy is le non smoker. :|
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Is that an ash tray? (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/community/devblog/2011/EVE_Online_Incarna_Tempest_WiP.png)
Izzy is le non smoker. :|
yeah, but captains quarters are like a motel room. You weren't the first one to use that bed...if you know what I mean.
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IZZEH DEMANDS NON-SMOKING ROOM ONLIE. The smokey ones smell bad. Dx
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Is that an ash tray? (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/community/devblog/2011/EVE_Online_Incarna_Tempest_WiP.png)
Izzy is le non smoker. :|
yeah, but captains quarters are like a motel room. You weren't the first one to use that bed...if you know what I mean.
Sorry, we tried to clean up afterwards.
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Is that an ash tray? (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/community/devblog/2011/EVE_Online_Incarna_Tempest_WiP.png)
Izzy is le non smoker. :|
yeah, but captains quarters are like a motel room. You weren't the first one to use that bed...if you know what I mean.
Sorry, we tried to clean up afterwards.
You didn't do a very good job, thats definitely a bloodstain on that mattress.
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I guess she wasn't lying, then...
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Oh that's gross. .____.
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I guess she wasn't lying, then...
Well, not lying about that particular clone.
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(http://www.fritriac.de/looky/too_silly.jpg)
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By the way, are the other racial CQs up yet?
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The bottom half of page 4 in this thread is doing bad things to my laugh muscles :lol:
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The bottom half of page 4 in this thread is doing bad things to my laugh muscles :lol:
Agreed :D
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http://www.naraka-alliance.net/myrhial/sisi-preview-captains-quarters/
Did a blog post on what's up on SiSi atm.
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Hm, still just minmatar available?
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I really wish you could at least invite a couple of other people to your captain's quarters. Andreus is totally the type who would have the occasional talk with Sahaquiel Faust or Stitcher in his (or their) own quarters.
I also hope when Incarna gets going properly, we'll be able to get into one of those awesome corporate boardrooms and have holographic briefings. That'd be SO AWESOME.
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SiSi has the racial CQ's. The overall look is "faded" so the difference between the four are not striking in my opinion (haven't seen Amarr yet).
I like the station corp logo above the door from the hangar to the CQ, nice small touch. CQ is growing on me.
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Oh really?
can we get some screenies of the other CQs anyway?
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Andreus Ixiris, CEO of Mixed Metaphor, standing on his balcony, gazing at the corporate flagship, the Nidhoggur-class carrier MXD Black Sun.
[spoiler](http://mxdcorp-radio.com/evelulz/Incarna/2011.06.08.04.17.55.jpg)[/spoiler]
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Andreus Ixiris, CEO of Mixed Metaphor, standing on his balcony, gazing at the corporate flagship, the Nidhoggur-class carrier MXD Black Sun.
[spoiler](http://mxdcorp-radio.com/evelulz/Incarna/2011.06.08.04.17.55.jpg)[/spoiler]
And he thinks..."Goddamnit these stats are ridiculous, I should have trained Amarr"
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As a note, there's still only the Minmatar CQ on SiSi. The Incarna web page does have concept art of the other quarters, though.
Caldari:
http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_001.jpg (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_001.jpg)
http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_015.jpg (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_015.jpg)
Gallente:
http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_007.jpg (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_007.jpg)
http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_008.jpg (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_008.jpg)
Amarr seems a bit WIPpy:
http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_016.jpg (http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/incarna/screenShots/Incarna_016.jpg)
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I really think we should be campaigning for a "Disembark" button in stations like they had in the old previews.
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Also, protip: Put the camera to the side of your character and play Brodyquest (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygI-2F8ApUM) while they're walking.
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I really think we should be campaigning for a "Disembark" button in stations like they had in the old previews.
The Assembly Hall thread is here (http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1516746). My post on the subject is at the end of the third page, here (http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1516746&page=3#90).
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CQ killed my EvE... My computer is so outdated I cant load the quarters properly. :bash:
Its the EvE apocalypse for me on the 21st! (In station anyways.)
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Keep in mind, you can uncheck 'load station environment' and still play EVE.
You will be missing out on much awesome, but EVE is not over.
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I'm curious: on Sisi, what happens when you do that?
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Keep in mind, you can uncheck 'load station environment' and still play EVE.
You will be missing out on much awesome, but EVE is not over.
Oh thank god :oops:
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I'm curious: on Sisi, what happens when you do that?
(http://ldis.caldari-made.net/images/sharing/2011.06.11.00.39.36.jpg)
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Yay for Matari Furniture conglomerates!
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I suspect this is a question of their agile development process: they fixed a release date, which means they don't fix the scope.
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Then for fuck's sake, just push back the release! It's not like any players are desperately looking forward to the changes in this expansion so much that they'd pitch a fit about it not being released on the 21st.
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They've spent two years transitioning their entire company to this process. I don't think that they're going to renege on that just for this little thing.
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Agile, and Scrum, basically pick an end-date and the development teams pick features they think they can get out the door by the end date - during the process there is continual evaluation of progress and if they think they're going to miss the end-date, they drop features until they meet the end date. Hopefully, the dev teams get better at estimating how long what they're doing will take, and the estimates get more reliable.
From CCPs point of view, I suspect they'd rather get out something than push it back, since this is essentially a giant beta-test of their walking in stations stuff. The sooner it gets into testing, the sooner they can get to work on fixing the bugs. There will be bugs, and they will be found and some of them even fixed.
The art resources for producing the other brands of captains quarters seems to me to be less critical as far as the finished product goes, because if the quarters look great, but you can't dock with the sofa without getting hung up on the coffee table, then it will fail.
It's not like any players are desperately looking forward to the changes in this expansion so much that they'd pitch a fit about it not being released on the 21st.
I'm fairly relaxed about the whole process. and if you don't care, do what I do and check the box saying "don't load the station interior" until they have one you want to look at.
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We're getting different Captains Quarters? vOv
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I don't always agree with Ulphus, but when I do, he's spot-on!
Also, Incarna is almost meaningless to me until we have social spaces.
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They should push it back. New players come in and go "WTF Minmatar?" even though they picked Caldari.
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Depends on how long that WTF period will last. Two weeks? Okay. Six months? Bad.
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Eh... to be honest, the current CQ doesn't scream Minmatar to me, largely because of a lack of anything to compare it against.
Also, Incarna is almost meaningless to me until we have social spaces.
This... is really my main issue. I would have - at the very least - liked to see the ability to invite other players to your CQ to marvel at shinies in your hangar or check out the new dresses or whatever. Until then, we've got amounts to an incredibly system-intensive UI redesign, and I think more than a few will be finally unchecking that "load station environment" button (assuming, of course, we don't get some option to opt out of CQ).
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They are pushing it back. The same way they pushed back Incursion. Go ahead and swap the nameplate, release the rest of the content when it's done. That's their development model now. *shrug*
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I don't always agree with Ulphus, but when I do, he's spot-on!
Tautalogically, really. :D
And wait, what have we disagreed about?
Also, Incarna is almost meaningless to me until we have social spaces.
Yep, completely agree. I could see them potentially allowing "guests" into staterooms as a "one or two people in a space" test, rather than go straight for the crowded station (assuming anyone actually leaves their quarters) but TBH, I don't really expect it.
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Yep, completely agree. I could see them potentially allowing "guests" into staterooms as a "one or two people in a space" test, rather than go straight for the crowded station (assuming anyone actually leaves their quarters) but TBH, I don't really expect it.
A nice (and possibly obvioius) option for the small groups of capsuleers together is the corporation office - if you're docked at the HQ of your corporation you have the option of joining others in a basic meeting room style environment.
But you're right. We are probably going to experience a mass rush from solitary confinement to the crowds of a busy station in one step.
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From CCPs point of view, I suspect they'd rather get out something than push it back, since this is essentially a giant beta-test of their walking in stations stuff. The sooner it gets into testing, the sooner they can get to work on fixing the bugs. There will be bugs, and they will be found and some of them even fixed.
I would actually correct this by saying that it is not a beta test for Walking in Stations; it's a beta test for Mercenary Quarters that will be part of DUST 514.
From the DUST 514 devblog here (http://www.dust514.com/en/news/article/1980/beginnings):
You turn on your PS3, and launch DUST 514. You choose the character you created before, and log onto our servers. You are standing in your Mercenary Quarters. This is your private space and where you spend downtime between battles. From here you can access chat channels, the marketplace, fitting, the starmap, leaderboards, and much more. An icon is flashing. You have new mail in your inbox; a call to arms.
Sound familiar?
On the flip side, let's look at this from the viewpoint of a corporate structure. Social areas and immersion are of little concern when balanced with reduced R&D costs for future projects. Despite what some people may believe, CCP is a for profit company. With the amount of expansion that they've made in the past two or three years, they need to justify their development time. This is where (at least from an "business degree" perspective) microtransactions and dropping features that cannot feasibly be completed in the launch window they have allotted begins to make sense. Putting the development focus on the DUST 514/EVE connection can be seen as a positive.
In the long run, this coincides with the expectations of most players. Minor fixes get to be added to the development cycle. The focus is on future features and making existing "high priority" features more attractive. This also means that there is less need to cater to the social players, and more to the "power gamers".
Of course, you don't need the Scrum/Agile model to do this. Cryptic Studios is one who uses the structure quite effectively (they're developing Neverwinter with "tech" that they first built for Star Trek Online). They don't do Scrum (to my knowledge), but they do microtransactions.
They also do it all with a really small development team though.
There's a hidden reason for it all; microtransactions are very, very attractive for a certain set of investors. Think of where the development studio for DUST 514 is. Think of where the largest economy in the world will be within the next few years.
;)
The big picture? CCP is going for... yes, they've already said it... global domination. They're making the chess moves, and they've flat out given the broad strokes of their plans.
Now, from an RP perspective...
Yeah, I'll get back to you in a year. I'd rather wait out the storm and see how things turn out on the other side. :yar: I'm quite interested in playing DUST 514.
If you really want my perspective... I don't see why there couldn't be a "generic" quarters for capsuleers. Add some themed furniture, alternate floor layouts... I tell ya, CCP is missing the boat here. :psyccp:
P.S.: Sorry for completely off-topic, but I just felt that it was needed for perspective. :oops:
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mhh i have to say a few things here from the technical perspective that could be interpreted as taking the side of CCP on this matter, but trust me its quite the opposite:
1) In order to go ahead with Incarna, CCP had to refactor a number of things in their engine, specifically most of the framework for the UI (Carbon technology) this work brought many issues but has potential to open many options in the future, we are experiencing that now with incursion 1.6.1 (sadly not with the best results). This is probably most of what frustrates people lately, cause its an invisble feature or maybe it is visible but not in any spectacular way.
2) Deploying the basic tools to render, animate and move a full "human" character is a big thing, specially if the visual look of said character is completely defined by a complex number of variables pre-selected by the Player. I've visited SISI several times these last few days and the animation looks incredible natural, even for fatty chars, women or men.....i don't remember seeing such "natural flow" of the body on other games......
3) It's one thing to have a single character being represented in a fairly consitent way, its quite different to portray 50 in single location and make them interact at the same quality level. Most importantly any optimization process needs to start with some basic metrics once its gone live (measurement after deployment), so baby steps are a good path to take here. Not dissapointed they haven't gone beyond the personal room area, but a bit sad they didn't at least created 4 distinct locations according to racial station type.....
In the end from a technological point of view, they are taking reasonable choices, however from the marketing, goals and customer expectations perspective they are falling short. There should be at least some new feature that are exclusive to CQ's for the player to enjoy and i can't seem to find any (unless of course you count the new wardrobe options using Aurum)
To me, this is just a "foundations" release to future expansions, it's free and i don't plan to change my attire just yet so no big issue.....the potential issue however is whats gonna happen from June to December .....not sure why.....but i get this eerie feeling it won't be anything good.
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(http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2615/doesmy.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/98/doesmy.png/)
Cia wonders if this skirt makes her bum look fat
Finally a use for the default 'slightly worried' Intaki female expression!
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They are pushing it back. The same way they pushed back Incursion. Go ahead and swap the nameplate, release the rest of the content when it's done. That's their development model now. *shrug*
It's bullshit.
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Here are some pictures I've taken from the last couple weeks. (Posted as links to save bandwidth for people, also because of large resolution.)
From inside the CQ:
CCP did a pretty good job with the mirror in the CQ - note that instead of taking the cheap way out and just rendering another instance of Morwen, they actually render a mirror image of her (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.08.18.31.11.jpg) (note that her tattoo is rendered on the correct side of her face). Apparently we can also shop for the latest line of, uh, toys, from the Crystal Boulevard, right from our couch (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.08.22.55.09.jpg). Unfortunately, we're kinda stuck in our CQs - it seems that CONCORD doesn't think the air in the station concourse is quite up to snuff (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.08.22.38.11.jpg).
The Hangar Balcony:
The first thing that really becomes noticeable is that we finally have a proper sense of scale (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.08.18.35.42.jpg) for our larger ships (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.08.18.38.52.jpg). The turret models' bases look a little funny on the Bhaal/Deemer/Geddon hulls, though, both due to their size and the shape of the hull around where the hardpoints are (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.08.18.35.03.jpg). Needs more dramatic pose (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.08.18.39.09.jpg) though. The rotating hologram on the console is a cute touch (much like the one in the CQ itself), and the undock sign is easy to spot, while not overly distracting (http://go-dl.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.08.18.37.04.jpg).
The Noble Exchange:
Honestly, some of the stuff is decent - I like this particular combination of jacket, pants and heels (http://go-dl1.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.13.23.15.05.jpg) for example. The blue one-piece suit-dress (http://go-dl1.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.13.23.14.42.jpg) is nice, but I'd personally prefer a version with a longer skirt and a less... obtrusive collar. The skirts seem okay, though there's very little in the way of matching tops to go with them at the moment that actually look decent, with the sole exception of the "military" blouses - which utterly reek of "hey look, you've got tits, let's make them look two cup sizes larger than they actually are (http://go-dl1.eve-files.com/media/corp/mlagann/2011.06.13.23.17.14.jpg)" which makes me facedesk hard.
I don't have any male characters, and :effort: to make a test one, so I haven't looked at the male stuff yet.
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(http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2615/doesmy.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/98/doesmy.png/)
Cia wonders if this skirt makes her bum look fat
Finally a use for the default 'slightly worried' Intaki female expression!
In the good way. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADpKVgSItX0
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The air contamination message made me chuckle.