Local Vistas

Nebulae in New Eden are currently the quietly repetitive backdrop to all we do in New Eden. I never paid much attention to them as I always felt their presence was unrealistic, and poorly executed. Their randomness appeared to have no relation at all to the area of space one was viewing from and even though your ship could be the opposite side of the known galaxy, the backdrop to space was always the same tired collection of blue, green or red dusty wallpapers. Indeed the development team forged these images from clouds of ink within a murky fluid a decade ago.

But there is hope; nebulae will now become a useful tool of location recognition. During the video shown Ben Bohn explains how they will be located between systems, and if you travel further toward a nebula by jumping systems; its appearance will alter depending on the distance from the nebula you are. And it's not limited to one nebula either; by layering multiple nebulae from several locations in the constellation, each time you move around the star-map the size and angle of the nebulae will alter again, dependant on the location of your viewing.

   

This new technology will enable New Eden's backdrops to appear unique in every system injecting some much needed variation to the star littered backgrounds. Local knowledge will play a key role in knowing exactly where you are in the constellations simply by looking at the nebulae surrounding the views, more so than simply the name of the system; a direct comparison with the view will grant an unparalleled understanding of the geography of each constellation.

I expect this will allow exploration to be a little more of a discovery; each new backdrop unique to it's host system. Perhaps CCP can go a step further and allow the exploration of the interior regions of nebulae; possible lawless pockets within the Empires harbouring great bounties of some kind to lure in potential prey - well, that's something I want for my own sake, for pure pew pew.

It's a feature I'm sure will go a long to way to making each system more than a collection of planets surrounding a solitary star. But I'm unsure how this would work at the edges of the galaxy and whether the same idea can work within a wormhole; the latter proposition possibly allowing the puzzle of positioning the wormhole pocket amongst the catalogue of known nebulae in the galaxy. Only time will tell I guess...

(I had the same idea a few years ago, but I always figured it too petty a problem to post. I hate hindsight...!)

Related Soundtrack

Colonial Marines

The apparent infinity the universe presents must surely give rise to life which, when encountered can promote the most terrifying of situations. It's accepted that Aliens is one of the greatest Sci-Fi Horrors ever committed to film; a tale of desperation and survival against a deadly alien race. One can only marvel at the impression this game leaves - it's Aliens; but playable!

System Failure!!!

After a brief spell of rest and relaxation attending the slave blood fights courtesy of the Blood Raider faction. I returned home to Sarum Prime VI to find my POD un-usable despite the recent respite. I can only attribute the system failure to a lack of maintenance and its blame rests squarely on my shoulders. It’s needless to say that my presence in New Eden has become temporarily interrupted.

I trust that it’s a foregone fact; the regular maintenance of ones POD is a must as neglect will result in one eventuality; total system failure. An engineer has already been summoned but the prognosis is not desirable; a complete rebuild of the POD. I have no information on how long the re-fit may take, only that for the moment the space is clear around my hunting grounds, fly safer.

Happy (plentiful) hunting…

Me Tube

Annually I'll unplug for a while to reset my warp-core, my humanity and attend to some issues unrelated to New Eden. I've compiled a channel of videos, still in early development, but with content that you may find relevant when you too unplug from the fray. Enjoy...

Related Link

www.youtube.com-CartoonrBOY's channel

Moderation

With no relation to our sordid sadistic sandbox – just a note to advise that; due to the number of page rank seeking comments received on this site, I’m moderating subsequent comments posted. This will mean that any personal posts will not display immediately, but be assured they will be listed providing they are on topic.

Thanks for yer participation y'all.

A View to a Kill

I'm grateful that un-docking in New Eden is blind, that is to say that any docked pilot, save for 3rd party intel, cannot observe the local space outside any station they are docked within. This makes for some brave yet ultimately foolish decisions, particularly considering the value attached to the vessels involved, and can, in the correct situation provide an easy kill, albeit usually accompanied by hostile fire of the local station and it's attempts to discourage the unprovoked, relentless attack.

There are rumours that this mechanic may be changed, that the majority consider this a flaw with the stations security protocols and that the safety of individuals seeking refuge in a hostile universe should be a prime consideration in these situations. Inevitably any change to this dynamic would not prevent such prowling as; with nature, a predator will find a solution. Even so, modifications must be carefully considered as perhaps the actual effect of any change may encourage false assumed safety, promoting elevated confidence in the target, only to now be a million miles from the station when ambushed.

This is clearly not the best kill scenario, but it provides a challenge; attempting to obliterate any dumb witted feeble tank in time thus escaping intact with minimal residual attention. Try it, but be slick.

Happy hunting...

Related Soundtrack

Derelict? Delectable!

Clearly this is exactly what CCP want to accomplish in New Eden. Nothing comes close to the imagined intrepid dangers that lie in wait within all those abandoned station wrecks, ghost ships or sleeper sites. The idea is that these hulks of metal design house a complex structure - explorable vaults of discovery - making our universe a million times massive by allowing the wandering of such sites.

Mark my words: A plan for the future, and a grand one at that.

Snatch Wars

Pure genius!

Re-incarna-tion

I’ve conceded creation to CCP - the incarnation of my avatar; Mr NOXx to the captains quarters. I have reckoned the attempt is recognisable enough, but the ability for amendments is not something I have to pay for so I may continue to evolve my image as I see fit. So after 400 years I can finally change my clothes!

I like having legs, to stretch – despite the confinement to quarters. My various craft are quite a sight from the hangar balcony, but do not ‘hover’ in relation to any docking ring inside the station, it would seem that I have the best quarters every-time I enter the station looking straight down the hanger, which is nice, yet odd. With the docking now allowing pilots to infect further into a station interior than before possible, a momentous gentle glide into position is still absent, only the jarring black screen and progress bar then the unwelcome words ‘loading’ (which is typical of New Eden) welcome each visitor, but at least the option to disable the station interior is granted allowing for rapid deployments with no session timer to endure.

Without the interaction of other pilots it feels sterile and desperately void of any life save for my own but this will be addressed in time once the station interior is breathe-able for clones. It will be interesting to see 1k pilots mingling inside a station environment, particularly as this is sometimes problematic in the void.

Still, I relish the walking and sitting(a rare occurrence) and the cyclical view screens, the fundamental design of the quarters and indeed, not much impresses more than to behold the glorious sight of an Amarr battleship, at scale!