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 AnimationThe 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 InteractionMovement 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.
CommunicationThere 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 ImpressionThe 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.
Author
Topic: Captain's Quarters - Screenshots and Impressions, from an RP Perspective (Read 19748 times)