POLISHING THE PEW PEW PEW
NEW PVP COMBAT EFFECTS
February was a great month for us. We finally got the chance to take a detailed look at PVP combat and give it some much needed polish. We're very confident that players are going to have a blast killing one another and not feel too down when they lose. We're hoping they'll just grab another ship, some modules and go out again for another round. We've also added some interesting things for players to shoot at.
Here's a rundown of what went down last month in February.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMUNICATION ARRAYS
THE BACKBONE OF THE VOICE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK
Comm arrays have been placed in various parts of the AE and GN. These structures have immense strategic value and securing them will cause a % chance that an enemy voice broadcast will fail when they attempt to broadcast. The more enemy arrays you disable, the better for your team.
Note: Friendly communications will never be disrupted in the enemy sector.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOADING SCREEN LOVE
BETTER FOR DEBUGGING, PLUS IT LOOKS COOL
We've finally overhauled the main loading screen and applied some awesome screenshots from our new Screenshot Mode System. We also included some useless tips that randomize every 5-10 seconds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOOKMARK TWEAKS
BOOKMARK RENAMING
Bookmarks can now be renamed! Also, creating new bookmarks without a name will give it a random name instead.
Don't forget: You can share bookmarks with other players.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
REPUTATION TWEAKS
BUYERS NO LONGER INCUR REP PENALTIES
Buyers were being penalized for well... buying. We've put a stop to this. Now only sellers will incur a -Rep hit upon a sale, this -Rep hit goes away when the buyer submits some +Rep to the seller if the seller delivers the item.
Don't forget to deliver your goods to the buyer! Drop a cargo box in space and send the coordinates if you have to.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CARGOBOX SPECIAL EFFECTS
OH LOOK: SOMETHING NEW TO BLOW UP
We've setup some logic that allows cargoboxes to be destroyed easily. This is also a good way to "throw" items away if you really think you don't need them. Simply jettison the item, shoot it, and watch the fireworks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW TURRET EFFECTS
OOOOH LASERS...
Part of our PVP polish efforts. Tracers have been added to all Rapture weapons. The colors also match the quality of the equipped weapon. From white, to green, to red, and so on. We've also added a number of sound effects for all turrets.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW HUD ICONS
TO SUPPORT OUR PVP EFFORTS
All ships in visible range now have a clear color coded indicator on the hud and will appear as Red for enemies, Blue as squad members, or Grey as friendly/neutral.
The ship's tail number and health are now displayed as well.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAMAGE INDICATORS
DID I HIT HIM?
Now you don't have to guess! Hitting a ship or structure will show how much damage you caused. A little arcade-ish, but that was a small price to pay.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW WEBSITE
NOW WITH NEW EXPLOSIONS
We've finally launched our new website over at http://EpicSpace.net. Here you'll find a link to our official Discord and all the major updates applied to the game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CERTIFICATIONS
BECOME A VETERAN -- FASTER
Pilots are now scored in 5 different categories:
- Docking Operations: The ratio of successful landings to failed landings while docking.
- Gunnery Skill: The ratio of hits to misses while in combat.
- Profession: The percentage of attributes acquired in the selected profession.
- Reputation: The amount of positive reputation points vs negative reputation points a player has received from others.
- Squadron Operations: The amount of flight hours a pilot has flown in a squadron vs flying solo. Achieving any score above 90% will result in the pilot becoming certified in that category.
Achieving 90% or higher in all categories will reward the pilot with the title of "Veteran".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW HANGAR BAY LEVEL
A NEW WAY TO SPIN YOUR SHIP
Players docked inside of a player owned hangar will actually feel like they're docked inside of a player owned hanger.
(Players should no longer see the Bradford/Hadfield Station Docking Port, when docked inside a player owned hangar.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW: SCREENSHOT MODE
HQ 4K SCREENSHOTS AVAILABLE
Pressing F9 enables "Screenshot Mode". Now you've got everything you need to be a space tourist. Press F10 to take a screenshot in high quality 4K.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAT: DISCORD INTEGRATION
YEP, CHATTING IN GAME IS THE SAME AS CHATTING IN DISCORD
We've integrated Discord directly into the game and is available in three channels: General, Trading, and Help. Players chatting in these channels will see each other whether they are on a Discord client, docked in a station, or in flight.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
STATS: TUTORIAL MISSIONS
INTERESTING THINGS WE'VE NOTICED
We've noticed that players are getting stuck on two different missions: Loans and Mount a Loot Detector. We're going to be addressing this in the next update. No longer will players "need" items to progress in the tutorial arc. Item's and modules should only make the missions easier and not be a requirement for completion.
We'll also completely take out the Loans mission until players are more comfortable with the game and are ready to seek out a lender.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK
EXTRA XP IS GIVEN MONTHLY FOR YOUR CRITIQUES
Don't forget, you can submit feedback to us at any time using the in game feedback tool. Bug, Idea, Suggestion, Shower Thought? It doesn't matter. We're always checking the feedback pool.
All submissions are anonymous!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FREE TO PLAY WEEKEND
TIME TO STRESS TEST SERVERS
We're also working out the details on our upcoming free to play weekend. We're looking to completely meltdown our server infrastructure and are looking for you to help us with that.
Stay tuned for more info.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPIC SPACE GROWS
WITH WORD OF MOUTH
Like the game? Let us know in the comments below or on Discord.
See complete update at: https://www.epicspace.net/update-february-2017
