[UPDATE] In the meantime, on Duality…

Lukas Rox DUST 514, EVE Online, Games , , , , ,

EVE Online has several active test servers right now, mainly because of DUST 514 development, Inferno development and Retribution development.

Singularity, the most famous EVE test server is currently hosting DUST bunnies. From EVE Online point of view, it allows testing the EVE-DUST integration and interaction with DUST 514 players.

Buckingham was just recently used to test the current Inferno 1.3.2 build that brought Districts to Temperate planets, as well as Faction Warfare changes.

As you already have guessed, Duality is the place to test the new winter expansion Retribution and all the features connected to it.

Retribution login screen

A lot of ships will get a model redesign in Retribution, including Megathron, Stabber and Vagabond. Tempest model has been resculpted as well.

New Tempest model in Retribution New Tempest model in Retribution New Megathron model in Retribution New Kronos model in Retribution

Four new destroyers will be added to the game, and this is how they look “live”. I really like the animated forcefields protecting the Gallente destroyer’s drone bays. This is something that IMHO should make its way to Thanatos when cap ships get V3.

   
Outer Ring Excavations, a corp that designed Hulk and Noctis (in game) is presenting you the new ORE frigate:

 
The Sansha Nation ships shader looks even better than before (remember the chameleon shader mentione in the status post?). Now its become an oily shader – it looks as if the hulls have been engulfed in some kind of fuel (or nanites!).

The UI has been improved as well. First off, the new Inventory UI has been iterated upon. To switch between the new and old hangar view, just click this small button:

To prevent new players from accidently becoming criminals, a safety switch has been added. Please note this is not a PVP flag switch! It only prevents YOU from firing. You are still a valid target for everyone else, despite this setting. Think of it like a weapon safety switch.

New targeting brackets look like this. Also note the new damage notifications.

All hardeners and resistance amplifiers will have specific damage type icons:

 

Micro Jump Drive and Micro Jump Drive Operation skillbook have been seeded. The new Micro Jump Drive takes 12 seconds to charge, and once it does, it catapults the ship exactly 100km forward. It grants +1 warp strength when activated, but is still affected by 2 or more Warp Disruptors, Warp Scramblers, and of course Warp Disruption bubbles. It can only be fitted to Tech I and Tech II Battleships.

Videos (by JonnyPew)

Last week our trusty #tweetfleet test pilot @JonnyPew had a peek on Duality to show you all the new stuff, so besides my screenshots, there is also some video footage of his:

    

All videos are © and courtesy of JonnyPew.

Wait, there is more!

CCP is opening the Duality this weekend to allow more features to be tested, including, but not limited to:

  • Bounty Hunting. ASB (Ancillary Shield Booster) changes. Salvage Drones. Micro Jump Drive. Reactive Armor Hardener changes.
  • AI Changes & More.
  • HUD changes
  • Changes to module tooltips
    (Also note that the HUD changes include a work-in-progress new in space damage notifications)
  • Unified Inventory changes
  • Attack Cruisers
  • Combat Cruisers
  • Fleet Hangar changes
  • Mass Testing AI

The mass test will take place next Monday, October 29th, at 14:00 EVE time. Details are available in this forum thread.

To connect to duality, follow this simple procedure:

  • Copy your main EVE installtion to a different folder, for example “EVE TEST”,
  • Make a shortcut to eve.exe from this new copy on your desktop,
  • Right click the shortcut, go to properties.
  • In the “target” field, add ” /server:duality”, save the shortcut
  • Launch the new shortcut and let it patch.