Bam-zine

Caring Is Preparing

Greetings Apocryphans,

Recently you‘ve had the chance to read about the construction of Apocrypha in quite some detail. The scrum teams designing and building the largest EVE Expansion ever have been doing an impressive job of keeping you informed on the progress despite their challenging schedules.

I want to tell you what us GMs have been doing down in our dungeons while the scrumbags upstairs have been busy creating greatness. Many might think we‘ve been spending more and more time at the bar every night, crying to a bewildered bartender about the upcoming influx of petitions on artificially intelligent NPCs and lost T3 ships. That is not the case however, as we bravely cling to the hope that we will still be smarter than those NPCs and we‘ve been spending our time proactively preparing for what is up ahead.

You may have read our GM blog last year where we mentioned our commitment to proactive support. Our Apocrypha preparations are a perfect example of that. Instead of succumbing to fate (and I don‘t mean GM Fate, we all succumb to him), we try to master it. Instead of just waiting and reacting to whatever comes following a big expansion, we devote a portion of our time to scrutinizing every feature and every change, foreseeing possible issues and making sure we have the tools we need to service all the new shiny things the expansion brings.

We have assigned GM teams to each scrum team. These surgical strike teams will perform the following tasks…

• Study intensely all designs made by their foster team of developers, and read all documentation available (which is a lot).
• Test out all the designs on SiSi, get a feel for them and try to spot issues customers might experience.
• Prepare documentation tailored for the rest of the GMs, internal pages, work procedures and so on.

Afterwards these GMs will be acknowledged as „experts” in the features they studied and proactively hunt down and make sure that bugs/borked functionality related to them are fixed.

We don‘t just support, we try to make the need for our support as minimal as possible.

Furthermore, we´ll be having the designers of each feature give the whole GM Team a support centric demonstration of how the new features work – logging, potential pitfalls and possible exploitability. All the stuff that we especially need to keep in mind as the eyes and ears of CCP in space.

See you in Apocrypha, pilots!

- GM Guard

Features Page Live

The EVE Online: Apocrypha features page is live! Head there to check out interviews, the first few screenshots, the ominous trailer and a full features list. For similar information, you can view the press release.

We’ll be adding more the page as time goes on, so check back in leading up to the launch of Apocrypha on March 10th.

Features Page Live

The EVE Online: Apocrypha features page is live! Head there to check out interviews, the first few screenshots, the ominous trailer and a full features list. For similar information, you can view the press release.

We’ll be adding more the page as time goes on, so check back in leading up to the launch of Apocrypha on March 10th.

…Should You Choose to Accept It

Some of you might have heard about a new mission system that is coming in Apocrypha. Whether you’re part of the mission-running PVE fanbase or a diehard PVPer, you may have some questions. What exactly does this “new mission system” mean to you, the player?

Pretty much all of the changes to the mission system resulted from our work on the “Epic Mission System” toolset. Two sprint teams in our Atlanta office have worked concurrently on Epic Missions for months now: One team consisted entirely of programmers, the other of content developers.

While that fact may not seem significant at first, it does say something about the way we do things here at CCP. Among the tons of other features that other teams have been working on for Apocrypha – Tech 3 ships, better NPC AI, amazing new graphics, etc. – we’ve been racing to finish the new wormhole and mission content. But not only have we been pushing our trusty old mission system through the paces, we’ve been overhauling its transmission, tuning it up, and yeah, even putting new wheels on the dear thing.  

So, what’s the difference between “normal” missions and “Epic Missions”? Well, normal missions are the ones you already know, the ones you get from typical agents in stations as long as you have sufficient standing. Once you finish a mission, you get another one offered, but they’re all just the same old missions selected randomly from an agent’s available pool of missions. These missions are oft-repeated and generally have very little development (or investment) in a storyline.

Epic Arcs, on the other hand, will be available only from unique agents (or strings of agents); they are linked together in an ongoing story that unfolds over the course of many missions. These missions also incorporate a new branching system, providing players with choices in the path through an Epic Arc. Finally, while the rewards for Epic Missions won’t be vastly greater than those for normal missions, they will tend to give out cool new toys (or at least exceptional rewards) at the ends of chapters and, of course, at the end of each complete arc.

For Apocrypha, though, we’re only introducing one Epic Arc, and it’s geared toward new players. (That’s not to say that only new players can do the arc, but the missions’ challenges range only from level 1 to level 2 missions.) Despite the fact that we – that is, the two Atlanta-based teams I mentioned earlier – have been developing the toolset for the Epic Arcs in addition to the new content for wormhole sites and new exploration sites in Empire, low-sec, and null-sec space (all at the same time), we consider this single new Epic Arc to be our greatest victory for the release. Shortly after Apocrypha, now that our new tools and development processes are in good working order, you can expect lots of new Epic Arcs for various factions and security levels to appear on a regular basis.

So, you may be wondering, what does the Epic Mission System actually look like? Well, we’ve made some enhancements to the way missions work in general. Some folks who’ve been playing on Sisi recently have noticed our new mission/agent dialogue windows. That’s just one of the many features that come as a result of the Epic Mission system, and it will affect existing agent missions. Additionally, we’ve introduced the ability to complete and accept missions remotely, rather than forcing players to fly all the way back to their agent’s station to report in. (I mean, this is a setting that relies on FTL communications, right? Yet I can’t call my agent? Well, no longer.) Keep in mind, though, that this is not a default setting, but an option we can choose when we create missions; most existing agent missions won’t allow remote completion.  At least, not yet.

So, the current status is this: Epic Arcs are here, and they’re going to change the way missions in EVE are run, but we’re just on the threshold of that change. The single new arc releasing with Apocrypha will give a taste, albeit a small one, of our new mission system’s capability. But keep your eyes on the patch notes with each subsequent update or release – lots more cool stuff is on its way.

EVE Elsewhere

The entirety of CCP is laser-focused on bringing you EVE Online: Apocrypha in all of its glory. Yet it isn’t just the game development team that’s been giving their very souls to this gargantuan effort. We’ve got an inhouse group of video producers that’s been doing quite well. See their efforts, humorous and otherwise. While you are at it, it might be a good time to subscribe to the Youtube and Facebook pages–as we’ve got many things planned for the near future to show off amidst all our previous trailers, teasers and tournament coverage.

How the AI Pew Pews the Player

Hi! I am CCP Incognito, and I’m a member of Team Epic. We have been working for the last few weeks implementing a “new” AI for wormhole NPCs.

Team Epic is:

• CCP Gangleri,  CCP Oneiromancer – Quality Assurance
• CCP GingerDude, CCP Incognito – Software Engineering
• CCP Ytterbium – Design
• CCP Zulupark – Production

Let’s have some history first. When Team Epic started working on improving EVE’s AI, it was as dumb as a brick that had been on a three-week bender. The AI followed a very basic set of rules:

1. See target.
2. Orbit target.
3. Shoot target.
4. If target dies then pick a new target and go back to step 1.

The above is a very simplified description, but it is close to what actually happens. This was the best that could be done at the time it was implemented. Remember: we are going as far back as the launch of EVE. The manpower and knowledge was vastly different then, and we were crunching like mad to launch the game. Since then there have always been bigger things to fix, but now we have come around to bringing the AI up to spec.

First of all, what I am going to describe is going to worry a lot of people, so DON’T PANIC!

We are not going to change 80% of the NPCs in the game. Your faction-fit Navy XXXX is still going to allow you to run LV 4 missions solo. We haven’t changed the NPCs that spawn in belts, nor in any of the classic dungeons, but that may change in future iterations (post-Apocrypha).

So again DON’T PANIC!

One of goals we have worked towards is making PvE combat more like PvP combat.  This has a few benefits. First, new players get a taste of what PvP is like while still doing PvE encounters. Second, they will have ship fittings that are more suited towards PvP, which means that when the victi… um, player gets jumped by another player he has a fitting that will allow him to fight back effectively, or at least run away. Lastly, it will make for more engaging combat that is both dynamic and feels alive. 

Wormhole NPCs are meant to be scary and, as such, needed an AI that could demonstrate that. Without going into hard numbers, the new NPCs have very high damage output and incredible resists. That alone makes them harder but it wasn’t enough…

We have made some of the NPCs repair each other. Yes, you read that correctly. NPCs may be spider tanking, but not all of them will. No. I am not going to give numbers or percentages; you get to figure that out on your own.

We then looked at the tunnel vision that the NPC have today, where they focus on only one player. We decided to give NPCs the ability to multi-target players. We are still going to have all of its guns and missiles on a primary target, but now we can have the NPC use its remote repairer on a damaged comrade, or it might just ECM a player that has been remote assisting the primary target. 

Hmm. Is that enough?

One of the things we disliked about the current AI system is that the first player ship in range of a NPC squad would become the focus of the attacks for the entire squad. The squad would never deviate from that attack pattern. We have changed this as well. When an encounter starts, the NPC will individually evaluate what is known of the opponent and target the appropriate opponent. As the fight evolves, the NPC will watch what players are doing and, based on several criteria, will decide if some or all of the NPCs should change their targets.  

In very basic terms: modules and weapons generate threat; as the threat goes up and down the NPCs will change targets and allocate secondary targets.

Hmm. Do we have enough to make players weep at their computers?

We have also added evasive maneuvering for some NPCs. This gives them a much higher survival rate when approaching targets. The old NPCs would come straight towards their target and orbit. This gave the player’s gunners the most optimal firing solution. 

“The new NPCs may optimize their approach to maximize transversal in order to avoid to be instantly destroyed by player volleys.” – CCP Ytterbium

This means that NPCs will take longer to arrive at orbit distance, but they will have a high transversal velocity the whole way in. It also looks bloody cool!

We still have a couple of weeks to go until we are feature complete on the AI, and there are a couple of features that we want to get in as well. Only time will tell if we get these last features done for this release or the next. I guess it is good to leave everybody wondering what will be there.

- CCP  Incognito, and Team Epic.

How the AI Pew Pews the Player

Hi! I am CCP Incognito, and I’m a member of Team Epic. We have been working for the last few weeks implementing a “new” AI for wormhole NPCs.

Team Epic is:

• CCP Gangleri,  CCP Oneiromancer – Quality Assurance
• CCP GingerDude, CCP Incognito – Software Engineering
• CCP Ytterbium – Design
• CCP Zulupark – Production

Let’s have some history first. When Team Epic started working on improving EVE’s AI, it was as dumb as a brick that had been on a three-week bender. The AI followed a very basic set of rules:

1. See target.
2. Orbit target.
3. Shoot target.
4. If target dies then pick a new target and go back to step 1.

The above is a very simplified description, but it is close to what actually happens. This was the best that could be done at the time it was implemented. Remember: we are going as far back as the launch of EVE. The manpower and knowledge was vastly different then, and we were crunching like mad to launch the game. Since then there have always been bigger things to fix, but now we have come around to bringing the AI up to spec.

First of all, what I am going to describe is going to worry a lot of people, so DON’T PANIC!

We are not going to change 80% of the NPCs in the game. Your faction-fit Navy XXXX is still going to allow you to run LV 4 missions solo. We haven’t changed the NPCs that spawn in belts, nor in any of the classic dungeons, but that may change in future iterations (post-Apocrypha).

So again DON’T PANIC!

One of goals we have worked towards is making PvE combat more like PvP combat.  This has a few benefits. First, new players get a taste of what PvP is like while still doing PvE encounters. Second, they will have ship fittings that are more suited towards PvP, which means that when the victi… um, player gets jumped by another player he has a fitting that will allow him to fight back effectively, or at least run away. Lastly, it will make for more engaging combat that is both dynamic and feels alive. 

Wormhole NPCs are meant to be scary and, as such, needed an AI that could demonstrate that. Without going into hard numbers, the new NPCs have very high damage output and incredible resists. That alone makes them harder but it wasn’t enough…

We have made some of the NPCs repair each other. Yes, you read that correctly. NPCs may be spider tanking, but not all of them will. No. I am not going to give numbers or percentages; you get to figure that out on your own.

We then looked at the tunnel vision that the NPC have today, where they focus on only one player. We decided to give NPCs the ability to multi-target players. We are still going to have all of its guns and missiles on a primary target, but now we can have the NPC use its remote repairer on a damaged comrade, or it might just ECM a player that has been remote assisting the primary target. 

Hmm. Is that enough?

One of the things we disliked about the current AI system is that the first player ship in range of a NPC squad would become the focus of the attacks for the entire squad. The squad would never deviate from that attack pattern. We have changed this as well. When an encounter starts, the NPC will individually evaluate what is known of the opponent and target the appropriate opponent. As the fight evolves, the NPC will watch what players are doing and, based on several criteria, will decide if some or all of the NPCs should change their targets.  

In very basic terms: modules and weapons generate threat; as the threat goes up and down the NPCs will change targets and allocate secondary targets.

Hmm. Do we have enough to make players weep at their computers?

We have also added evasive maneuvering for some NPCs. This gives them a much higher survival rate when approaching targets. The old NPCs would come straight towards their target and orbit. This gave the player’s gunners the most optimal firing solution. 

“The new NPCs may optimize their approach to maximize transversal in order to avoid to be instantly destroyed by player volleys.” – CCP Ytterbium

This means that NPCs will take longer to arrive at orbit distance, but they will have a high transversal velocity the whole way in. It also looks bloody cool!

We still have a couple of weeks to go until we are feature complete on the AI, and there are a couple of features that we want to get in as well. Only time will tell if we get these last features done for this release or the next. I guess it is good to leave everybody wondering what will be there.

- CCP  Incognito, and Team Epic.

Love the smell of burning bugs in the morning? Join the Bug Hunters!

Hello again!  I am CCP Ginger and you may remember me .. ah well lets face it, you probably wont’!  However, it is my happy duty to introduce a blog from one of our volunteer teams: the bug hunters. Please take the time to read it and if it sounds like your cup of tea, then by all means apply! 

Greetings citizens of New Eden! My name is Sabaoth and I am the Bug Hunter Vice Admiral, which basically means I head up the Bug Hunting volunteer team for CCP. I have been with EVE since pre-alpha and am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Equipment Certification and Anomaly Investigations Division (ECAID). A bit of a mouthful, but you can just call us your friendly neighborhood Bug Hunters. Our primary mandate is to view and verify all bug reports that are reported by players> Once verified, we assign the reports to a defect. The defect then gets assigned to the CCP Quality Assurance (QA) team.  As part of our team’s efforts we also assist in all manner of feature testing and QA tasks.

ECAID was the first ISD volunteer division created in beta and has been at the forefront of aiding CCP Games in improving the Universe of EVE for the last 5+ years. If you are enthusiastic about helping CCP improve EVE and are 18 years or older you can apply to become a Bug Hunter here.

Bug Hunting

We are looking for those with a technical inquisitive mind. If you yearn to understand the game mechanics from beginning to end then you are the type of person we want. We have openings for both Windows and Macintosh users. If you live on the test servers, always wanting to figure out the latest features and mechanics, then why not apply to ECAID and take the next step!

There is a common misconception that reporting bugs is not appreciated. Bug Reports, no matter how insignificant, are always appreciated, even if you know all your friends have already reported the bug. The more information we can get on the same bug the easier it is for us to reproduce and resolve the issue. It’s important to note that we use the bug reporting system on the official website found here, not the petition system as the GM’s will be unable to deal with your bug reports. 

If you are interested in helping us improve EVE you can find everything you want to know about ECAID, and how to write concise bug reports, using our public website.

Are you local?

We are in the process of assisting in the localization of the EVE client into various languages. If you are fluent in English and a second language and want to be at the forefront of bringing localized clients to EVE then please apply to the ‘Translation Team – TT’. The TT also Bug Hunt as a secondary directive so you will always be kept busy!

Already Applied?

Unfortunately it can sometimes take us anything from a week to a month to process the applicants we get depending on the volume. If you have not heard from us within a month you can email us.  We are in especial need of good Bug Hunters to aid in new feature testing before March 10th, so if you think you have what it takes then apply and show us what you’ve got. Remember, the only good bug is a dead bug.

Vice Admiral Sabaoth

Equipment Certification and Anomaly Investigations Division

P.S.  Be sure to ask him about pee-shark.

Love the smell of burning bugs in the morning? Joing the Bughunters!

Hello again!  I am CCP Ginger and you may remember me .. ah well lets face it, you probably wont!  However it is my happy duty to introduce a blog from one of our volunteer teams, the bug hunters, please take the time to read it and if it sounds like your cup of tea, then by all means apply! 

Greetings citizens of New Eden, my name is Sabaoth and I am the Bug Hunter Vice Admiral, which basically means I head up the Bug Hunting volunteer team for CCP. I have been with EVE since pre-alpha and am responsible for the day to day operations of the Equipment Certification and Anomaly Investigations Division (ECAID). A bit of a mouthful but you can just call us your friendly neighbourhood Bug Hunters. Our primary mandate is to view and verify all bug reports that are reported by players, once verified we assign the reports to a defect which gets assigned to the CCP Quality Assurance (QA) team.  As part of our team’s efforts we also assist in all manner of feature testing and QA tasks.

ECAID was the first ISD volunteer division created in beta and has been at the forefront of aiding CCP Games in improving the Universe of EVE for the last 5+ years. If you are enthusiastic about helping CCP improve EVE and are 18 years or older you can apply to become a Bug Hunter here.

Bug Hunting

We look for those with a technical inquisitive mind, if you yearn to understand the game mechanics from beginning to end, then you are the type of person we want. We have openings for both Windows and Macintosh users. If you live on the test servers, always wanting to figure out the latest features and mechanics, then why not apply to ECAID and take the next step!

There is a common misconception that reporting bugs is not appreciated. Bug Reports no matter how insignificant are always appreciated, even if you know all your friends have already reported the bug. The more information we can get on the same bug the easier it is for us to reproduce and resolve the issue. It’s important to note that we use the bug reporting system on the official website found here, not the petition system as the GM’s will be unable to deal with your bug reports. 

If you are interested in helping us improve EVE you can find everything you want to know about ECAID, and how to write concise bug reports, using our public website.

Are you local?

We are in the process of assisting in the localization of the EVE client into various languages. If you are fluent in English and a second language and want to be at the forefront of bringing localized clients to EVE then please apply to the ‘Translation Team – TT’. The TT also Bug Hunt as a secondary directive so you will always be kept busy!

Already Applied?

Unfortunately it can sometimes take us anything from a week to a month to process the applicants we get depending on the volume. If you have not heard from us within a month you can email us.  We are in especial need of good Bug Hunters to aid in new feature testing before March 10th so if you think you have what it takes then apply and show us what you’ve got. Remember, the only good bug is a dead bug.

Vice Admiral Sabaoth

Equipment Certification and Anomaly Investigations Division

P.S.  Be sure to ask him about pee-shark.

Gavs Eye

Eye, originally uploaded by Bambi_72.

I got some el-cheapo Chinese extension tubes from e-bay this week, bargain price of £7.99. I thought I would see what they could do with my 300mm zoom set to macro mode. I wasn’t expecting a very good image as they have no electrical contacts for the camera to control the aperture of the lens.
I applied a saturation filter to the image to get the black & white effect, masking out the coloured part of the eye. I am fairly pleased with the result, considering I was a bit drunk when I took the photo, on the full size image you can really see the texture on the back of the eyeball thru the pupil.