CCP have released some new animations for utility module effects and titan doomsday weapons. The modules demonstrated here are those that have an effect ship-to-object rather than on the ship itself, so are more of the squiggly-lines-in-space type rather than the shimmery-effect-on-ship type. The Doomsday effects are, of course, more of the oh-my-god-what-just-happened-to-my-Naglfar type, and goodness me are some of them pretty!
According to a comment from CCP Sledgehammer regarding the module changes, they are seemingly more for performance benefits rather than a major change in appearance, and certainly from the looks it is apparent that they are largely similar – armour reps still look like armour reps, and energy vampires still look like energy vampires. That being said, it’s nice to see them all in one place. The target painter effect looks pretty cool and will no doubt make the more imaginative capsuleer picture themselves chasing Jesse Ventura through a jungle, perhaps declaring that maybe, just maybe, they have got time to bleed after all. Also, whilst at first glance the energy neutraliser may look like it is going in the wrong direction, the ‘lightning-strike’ effect at the end of the animation really gives the impression of a large amount of electricity sparking out of a ship’s capacitor.
So, the Doomsday animations. What’s not to love about enormous volleys of laser, missiles, projectiles, or plasma? While the GIFs are a little on the low quality side, it’s difficult to deny how impressive these effects are — there is almost a sense of tension almost as the Avatar builds up the power to fire, and the sustained burst of light really shows how much energy is involved. The Ragnarok fires a huge broadside (and it really is a broadside. It’s difficult to see on the GIF, but in the video below it is clear that the Minmatar have taken a leaf out of Vice-Admiral Nelson’s book), and when you realise each one of those projectiles is probably the size of a cruiser hull you wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.
EVE Online: Ragnarok new DD effects/sounds
And then there’s the Leviathan. Missiles have looked good in Eve ever since CCP updated them to have exhaust trails, and it really shows in the new Leviathan Doomsday. Everything about it, from the flight of the missiles to the blooming explosions on impact, is impressive, and it could easily become the centrepiece to many an Eve online marketing video.
It’s always good to see flashy new animations to keep the game fresh and maybe even give an impetus to train bitter-vet characters in a different direction just so that they can be the ones triggering that fire-storm of missiles on a trapped capital ship somewhere. What is even more promising is that CCP are looking at some of these animations in terms of improving performance- something that is always welcome in a game where lag and TiDi can take what should be an epic battle that stories are told about and slow it down to a snail’s pace where it is very difficult to be sure that your actions are even registering, let alone having an impact. These changes aren’t going to make a huge difference, but if they improve things a little then that is still an improvement.
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Wotan Mjolnir.
