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EVE dev blog explains new ship fitting screen, saveable configurations
Among the changes that will come to EVE Online with the March Apocrypha expansion is the user interface for fitting ships, and this is the topic of the latest dev blog from CCP Fendahl. Critics of the game's user interface might be surprised to learn that there is a team that focuses solely on UI, and it seems they've been quite busy with this radical layout change. Ship fitting in Apocrypha will be focused on an iPod-like ring where you array your modules and rigs, as well as subsystems for Tech III ships, while viewing your ship (and how it changes) in the center. This large fitting reticle is flanked by collapsible side panels which are used for item selection and displaying ship stats. Browsing the hundreds (in some cases thousands) of items in the various division hangars in a given station should be easier, with collapsible sections in the left side item panel. The stats panel to the right actually provides more info about your ship setup than before, by mousing over and bringing up a pop-up box. CCP Fendahl addresses the fact that this is more complex than the previous system: "While this increases the barrier to entry when learning how to fit a ship for the first time, we also think that the fitting screen is a critically important interface that needs to show all the relevant numbers."
EVE Online live dev blog on speed balancing, Wednesday Oct. 8
CCP Games is bringing back live dev blogs for EVE Online, this week's will deal with speed balancing. Developers Greyscale and Fendahl will be on-hand this Wednesday, October 8th at 20:00 GMT to address player questions about these changes. The dev blog will last roughly an hour, and will take place in EVE, in the "Live Dev Blog" channel. If you're interested in getting your questions answered, you'll need to post in the thread linked to this live dev blog to get your questions on their list. Players are already firing away, asking if the speed changes are limited to the nano-nerf and adjustments of stasis webifiers/warp scramblers, or if more sweeping changes to game mechanics are on the horizon. If you want answers about the speed balancing, this is probably your best chance for the time being, unless CCP opts to come out with an updated dev blog following this event.
EVE Online: Trinity's Tech II ships and works revealed
CCP Games has unpackaged all the rowdy details on the new Tech II pew-pew ships that will launch with EVE Online: Trinity, the upcoming expansion due out later this year. I must... remain... calm.... Screw it, new ships! Look, new ships! Before the hardcore EVE hot-shot pilots interrupt my spastic outbreak with a target lock; these ships are advanced versions from their Tech I counterparts. Only brand-spanking new ship classes get the distinct honor that warrants a new design. There, I hope you're all happy. The four Tech II class combat ships declassified fall into: Electronic Attack Ships, Heavy Interdictors, Black Ops, and Marauders. Buckle-in, the ships are available for crash testing on Singularity for a limited time only. The current Tech II ship models are not the final models, those will be implemented once the graphic update rolls out. The final ship models will use current Tech I hulls but with different textures and shaders. Onto the details -- incoming Tech II ship data transmission after the jump:
