EVE Frontier (official site), the in-development space survival MMO from Fenris Creations, gets its next major update, Cycle 7: Vestiges, on September 29. The biggest change is a rework of the core flight system that gives players much more freedom over how they move their ships. The update also adds character progression, physical docking, deeper exploration, and Feral Drones that now use the same systems as players. Because it changes how the universe is generated, Cycle 7 starts with a full universe reset.
Flight without a fixed plane
Ships are no longer locked to a fixed flight plane. They can now strafe, roll and pull off more complex maneuvers, as part of the game’s move toward manual flight with full freedom of movement. A new default control scheme, Aim Flight, lets players point their ship with the mouse, and gamepads are also supported. That leaves the keyboard free for speeding up, slowing down and other actions.
An orientation horizon stays in place to help players keep their bearings, and ships drift back toward it when left alone. Players can switch between Aim Flight and the existing WASD controls at any time. They can also separate movement from targeting, flying one way while aiming weapons another way with the mouse.
How you build a ship changes how it flies
Flight handling is now tied to a ship’s modular components. Thrusters set how much push a ship has. Engines control how efficiently fuel turns into thrust and how the ship handles. Different fittings give different flight characteristics, so how a ship is built and configured now shapes how it feels in space.
- Skills: a new skill system lets players develop their Character and Shell through experience gained in the Frontier. Skills make actions more effective.
- Physical docking: ships can attach directly to ports on objects and infrastructure in space to use their services, and stay present and visible in the world while docked.
Feral Drones play by the same rules
Feral Drones are now fully dynamic. They are bound by the same knowledge, rules and abilities as players, and they can scan, travel, mine, salvage and scavenge. That puts them in competition with players for many of the same resources. How players travel and what they do will affect Feral activity around them.
A galaxy you have to uncover
Exploration now depends on discovery. As players travel, they find in-system and inter-system signatures and build up knowledge of the space around them. Across the galaxy there are new points of interest, ancient constructs and stellar environments. These include multi-star systems that combine environmental effects in challenging ways.
Several of these changes alter how the universe is generated and discovered, so Cycle 7 begins with a universe reset when Vestiges goes live on September 29.
Wider context
EVE Frontier puts players in the role of the last relic of humanity, waking from stasis in a decayed civilization. Feral drone swarms roam its wastes and survivors fight over its resources. Fenris Creations launched EVE Online in May 2003 and is headquartered in Reykjavík, with additional studios in London and Shanghai. The Vestiges announcement was issued alongside the Sui Foundation, the organization behind the Sui Layer 1 blockchain.
