Lex Brora
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Posted - 2009.03.14 00:36:00 -
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Edited by: Lex Brora on 14/03/2009 00:42:25
OK here's how I experienced it:
The patching process:
Very frustrating. My client didn't automatically ask to download the new patch, so I went looking for the patcher .exe on the website. The old patch was all I could find; I found a link to the correct patch only after searching the forums, via another website.
Audio:
I'm very unhappy with the changes made to sound in EVE. I have a 5.1 system; my center speaker isn't producing any sound anymore. Several sounds have gone missing, like missile explosions and the "click" heard when dropping an item into a can/cargo hold/... Also, weapon sounds can only be heard at very close zoom levels, which I never use during missions. And Aura's voice only comes through very weakly, in the right speaker.
Warp effects:
I liked the old warp effects more. The visual effect was much sharper, as was the sound, and it had a camera shake. These things combined really gave it a feel of "crossing over" into warp flight, which is gone in the new patch. The new visual effect looks too blurry in my opinion, and the audio effect is too subdued.
Visual effects:
Some good, some bad. I love the way ships disappear at stargates now, it's more believable than just "cloaking" and then reappearing in another system. However, I'd still prefer to see my ship actually pass through the *gate* (like, for example, in Freelancer). Lining up the ship with the gate could be done by a kind of tractor beam emitted by the gate.
I like the new model for acceleration gates, but I think the effect on activation has gotten worse. It's far too subtle, and I miss the "lines" emitted towards my ship by the acceleration gate. Also, as with stargates, I'd like to see my ship line up correctly with the acceleration gate before warping.
The new armor repper and hardener effects look impressive, although maybe a bit too subtle. Turret effects, at least for 200mm railguns, could have been better.
EVE still lacks native support for anti-aliasing, so without tinkering (i.e. nHancer), the aliasing is an eyesore.
Fitting screen:
A lot of missed opportunities here. The ship display in the center looks nice, but that's all it does. It sits there, you can rotate it, but it doesn't serve any purpose besides highlighting the fact that most of the modules I mount don't change my ship's appearence one bit. Also, I've already got a 3D view of my ship in the hangar. It would have been cooler if you could actually drag modules right onto the model.
Usability is a problem, with all the information spread out over a window that's far too big. And the difference between high, medium and low slots isn't emphasized enough. Also, you don't get a visual indication if you're out of CPU or PG.
The ability to load and save fittings would be very useful, if it could grab modules out of station containers (and, preferably, put them back when unmounting). As it is now, it's largely a wasted effort. Also, it should be documented better in-game (like, e.g., what it does to rigs).
Agents:
The extra "view mission" button is entirely unnecessary. It's also very slow to react. Why not open the mission pane by default whenever a mission is active?
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