loki posts

EVE Evolved: Research: Reverse Engineering and Tech 3

by Brendan Drain Dec 27th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Game mechanics, Guides, Crafting, Professions, Making money, Tips and tricks, PvE, EVE Evolved

In the first two parts of this guide to Research in EVE Online, I covered the basics of Tech 1 blueprint research and the "Invention" system that allows players to make their own Tech 2 blueprint copies. The reverse engineering process used to make Tech 3 blueprints is a lot like invention except with a new set of materials, equipment and skills. Though the process used to create it will be familiar to inventors, the end product is a strange beast. Unlike Tech 2, Tech 3 isn't just a straight improvement over lower tech levels and doesn't use Tech 1 or 2 as a base. Instead, it's an entirely new technology used to make custom, modular ships. At the moment, the only Tech 3 products we have are the modular "Strategic Cruiser" class but more is planned for future patches. Tech 3 frigates are rumoured to be next on the development table and it's entirely possible that we'll see strange new Tech 3 modules thrown into the mix too at some point.

In today's part of this bumper guide to research, I look into EVE's newest addition to the researcher's repertoire as I examine Tech 3 and "Reverse Engineering". I'll look at how it all fits together to make a finished product, what's required to get involved and best practices for staying profitable in what has become a very competitive marketplace.

Tags: blueprint, ccp, ccp-games, engineering, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, guide, legion, loki, profit, proteus, re, research, reverse, reverse-engineering, skills, sleepers, strategic-cruisers, subsystem, tech-1, tech-2, tech-3, tengu, tips, tips-and-tricks, wormhole-exploration, wormholes

EVE Evolved: Research: Reverse Engineering and Tech 3, part 2

by Brendan Drain Dec 27th 2009 at 6:00PM

Tags: blueprint, ccp, ccp-games, engineering, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, guide, legion, loki, profit, proteus, re, research, reverse, reverse-engineering, skills, sleepers, strategic-cruisers, subsystem, tech-1, tech-2, tech-3, tengu, tips, tips-and-tricks, wormhole-exploration, wormholes

EVE Evolved: Tech 3 Strategic Cruisers

by Brendan Drain Sep 6th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Classes, Expansions, Game mechanics, Crafting, PvP, Endgame, Tips and tricks, PvE, Opinion, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

With EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion came an entire new class of ship. Tech 3 Strategic Cruisers represent a new wave of technology in EVE. Rather than being simply improved versions of the existing Tech 2 ships, Strategic Cruisers are modular ships reverse engineered from ancient Sleeper and Talocan components. They allow players to design their own ship from a base hull and a set of five subsystems. Each subsystem has four options, with a fifth possibly in the works. Original designs called for the ship to improve as it was used, but this was replaced with a set of rank 1 skills and you lose a level of one of them if your ship is destroyed. A fully fit Tech 3 ship originally would have cost you upwards of two billion isk but prices have since dropped to around the 600 million mark and they're still falling. As these ships have become more affordable, I've had a chance to see some of them in action and see first hand what they can do.

Join me in this visual gallery article where I dish out some information on Strategic Cruisers and then examine a few of the different ways these ships can be fit to fulfill different roles. If you have a particularly inventive setup, feel free to post it as a comment.

Gallery: EVE Strategic Cruisers

Tags: apocrypha, ccp, ccp-games, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, legion, loki, opinion, proteus, sleeper, strategic-cruisers, subsystem, talocan, tech-3, tengu

Massively's Apocrypha expansion hands-on: Epic Mission Arcs and Tech III

by James Egan Mar 6th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Lore, Quests, Races, Massively Interviews, Massively Hands-on

Epic Mission Arcs and Lore

EVE Online's setting of New Eden is one with a rich backstory, which is always being fleshed out further through regular Chronicles (short stories found on the game's official site), video footage tied into the game's lore and, as of last year, brought to life in the Empyrean Age novel.

While not all players opt to delve into this aspect of the game, the content is there to immerse yourself in. The problem is that there's a disconnect between the story and gameplay because of how mission running (quests) work in EVE and the repetition that characterizes them.

Tags: apocrypha, ccp-games, ccp-hammerhead, ccp-tonyg, eve-online, expansions, hands-on, legion, lego, loki, massively-hands-on, massively-interviews, noah-ward, proteus, sci-fi, strategic-cruisers, tech-3, tech-iii, tengu, tony-gonzales

EVE Evolved: Apocrypha expansion preview

by Brendan Drain Mar 2nd 2009 at 7:30PM

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

As March 10th draws ever closer, EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion is coming more and more into focus. Information on the new game mechanics and content is being released in the form of developer blogs and the official expansion page complete with screenshots and artwork is already up. Most importantly, a test version of the expansion is live on Singularity, EVE's main test server. Like any good journalist, I took my camera crew onto the test server to get some pictures of Apocrypha in action. What I found blew me away, literally.

In this gallery article, I take a visual sneak peak at parts of the impressive new Apocrypha expansion with a whopping 37 screenshots. In each screenshot, I talk about all of the new additions to the game.

EVE Apocrypha preview gallery > >

Gallery: EVE Apocrypha Preview

Tags: apocrypha, artifacts, ccp, ccp-games, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, expansion, exploration, featured, joystiqfeatures, legion, loki, probe, proteus, sleeper, strategic cruiser, StrategicCruiser, tech 3, Tech3, tengu, wormhole

EVE Online developer explains major new feature: Tech III

by James Egan Feb 12th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics

The dev blog many EVE Online players have been waiting for was published today. Tech III ships have been the subject of a great deal of excitement and no small amount of trepidation from the game's players. EVE developer CCP Nozh introduces the playerbase to "the dark delights of Tech 3 ships" in his dev blog "Strategic Cruisers: A New Breed." This moniker "Strategic Cruisers" is a fitting one, as they certainly are a new breed of ship, and one that requires some explanation.

Nozh writes, "The elation of happening upon a unique fit, some fresh and clever setup, has always been a very appealing aspect of EVE. One of our primary goals for the Tech 3 ships was to bring this customization to a whole new level. The new ships are a fundamental departure from the tried and tested, offering such unparalleled customization that discussing them on the same terms as previous ships belies their true extent -- we're talking full-fledged, independent systems within the system. A little bit scary, really."

Tags: apocrypha, breaking, ccp, ccp-games, ccp-nozh, cruisers, customization, defensive, dev-blog, electronic, engineering, eve, eve-online, expansions, loki, new-features, offensive, propulsion, sci-fi, singularity, strategic-cruisers, subsystems, tech-3, tech-iii, test-server