Progress remains at a constant pace. I have decided to continue focus on the modelling until it is complete. Fact is I work better if I focus on one type of task for a long time rather than flitting between different areas. This means that there will be much material for beauty shots, but little in the way of gameplay shots.
I am still looking for a volunteer to help create JSBsim flight models but no applications so far despite the offer of a token payment. I do have a Plan B for flight models if no one applies by the time I finish the modelling though it's not as elegant as I'd like.
Non-EVE fans might not be aware but the official EVE Fanfest is taking place right now, with one of the biggest announcements being the console FPS Dust 514 is being revamped for the PC. This means the assets for ground forces will be available and the Outerra engine already has more support for characters and vehicles than air units.
You can find screenshots of a small Minmatar escort fleet in the gallery above. Here is a selection with some commentary. For the non-EVE initiated the Minmatar is one of the four player factions. They are the ex-slave race of another faction which is why a lot of their ships seem cobbled together and favour function over form. They prefer guerrilla hit-and-run tactics with emphasis on speed and range over power.
This is a standard sized frigate. If you've ever played the game I-War, EVE's frigates are on par with I-War's corvettes in terms of speed, size and power.
You may notice turrets and missile platforms protruding from the ships' hulls. In EVE Online, turrets are modular and interchangeable, but in EVE:WORLD they will be fixed. Generally, if a turret looks like it has always been part of the ship's main hull I consider it a success, though it gets harder on bigger ships with large flat surfaces and multi-coloured hulls.
EVE Online treats each stream of bullets as a single projectile with each turret only firing for a brief time before "recharging". In contrast, they will fire much more like conventional machine guns in EVE:WORLD, though they will have an overheat value based on the turret's original EVE overload stats. Using the rate of fire from sound effects and the damage-per-second from EVE Online's salvo approach, we can calculate the damage-per-bullet to help maintain consistency for the longer-firing versions in EVE:WORLD.
And because I love a good scale shot, here is a frigate next to a single artillery turret mounted on the Minmatar Titan.
