Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I'm a big fan of Egosoft's X space-flight games, and it goes without saying that the best way to enjoy exploring space is with a first-person (or cockpit) view.

But for some reason Eve Online does't allow this. Instead we have to zoom-out of the third-person view of our ship in an attempt to immerse ourselves in the scenery. But this doesn't help, as the engine noises get quieter and you lose the visual-connection with your own ship, meaning you can't fly your ship immersively.


I'm not interested in story reasons, like ships don't have cockpits, camera drones and the like, I'm interested in the aesthetic and technical reasons why an option to offer a first-person view hasn't been implemented.


It's a deal-breaker for me. I won't be extending my trial because of it.

When I started playing I was dismayed by the lack of a first-person view as well, but you'll soon come to appreciate how important the third-person view really is and realize how disadvantaged you'd be with a first-person view. I'd give the game a chance with at least one month of regular subscription before you give up on it. Everything becomes more immersive the more you start to understand about the space portion of the game.

^^


I'll just leave this here.

http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/The_Jovian_Wetgrave

He wasnt being exactly unwarented there man. You asked a question then said you dont care about what could very well be the answer.

STORYLINE - You dont have a windscreen or anything else to look at with your eyes.

MECHANICS - You cant see anything from a cockpit (which doesnt exist, see above) and there would be little point in looking out the window if there was one, since the zoomed out view is the only way to see everything going on around you.

Kinda like asking why they use lightsabers instead of samurai swords in SWTOR, but not being interested in storyline related replies..

The bridge of any ship (and it'd be a bridge not a cockpit, EVE ships are huge) would be abandoned and probably devoid of life support - they're not needed in pod-pilot ships.

And again a group of replies which focus on story reasons. I said I wasn't interested, please keep this reasoning out of the discussion. The story-angle isn't a good enough reason anyway, as it would be very simple to introduce the idea of a camera drone at the front of the craft.


What I am interested in are the technical, functional and aesthetic reasoning behind the decision to not even include the first-person view as an optional camera mode.




Egosoft's games have proven that technically and functionally, even in hectic combat, the first-person works just fine.

So perhaps it was just an aesthetic decision on the part of the developers? They want the game to be played and experienced in a specific way and the first-person view just doesn't match up with their vision.

If that's what it is, then of course I can understand it. I suppose after many years of being online if there was a significant clamour for first-person then they would have offered the option by now...but it seems I'm likely in a small minority.





Of course you can see out of the cockpit...what strange reasoning you have. You can have a window showing a wide 180° view if you wanted. It would be immersive-bliss. When you do want to see more, you can switch back to external camera drones.




Oh dear, haha! No...it's nothing like the difference between swords and lightsabers, as these things aren't views...they're weapons. And again you're focussing on the story anyway.

Have you never played flight games before? The best ones are generally first-person view, or at least give you that option (see also driving games).


@überfans, there's no need to get all defensive. It's just a thread about the non-story reasons why there's no first-person option...that's all.

Thanks, this is the kind of reply I was hoping to get. It explains why the view is possible in the X games then, as all but one craft are computer-controlled. I also understand your tactical reasoning.

Still, I would play this game if it had first-person views just so I could spend a couple of hours a week flying around and drinking in the scenery, doing some mining and the odd one-on-one dogfight. I probably wouldn't get that involved in the main stuff. Each to their own and all that...

...it was my fault anyway for assuming Eve was a space-flight sim...now I know better


I wish you all much fun in your Eve games! If we ever do get that first-person view, then I would be very interested. The graphics, atmosphere, use of audio and understanding of the scale of space are all expertly done.

1.) I came to EVE from the X-series. I love the X-series but EVE is nothing like it other then both are situated in space.

2.) Your post about the hectic battles in the X-series are just minor PvE engagement in EVE. Battles in the X-series can't be compared to PvP battles in EVE.

If in EVE you had a cockpit / bridge FoV and the FC would say to shoot pilot "x", all players in the fleet first have to turn their ships around to find that pilot. If you are talking about 200 vs 200 battles that's a lot of ships to look at and then find that one pilot you need to shoot. Current system (3rd person view + overview) works great in battles.

3.) I suggest you (as I did) approach EVE without the X-series mindset. I love space games, so tried EVE out. But I did it with a clear mind so I would see the great things the game had to offer me (and never regretted I did it).

What I find odd. Only after 90 minutes you already decided that you don't like EVE. I would suggest to at least play out your trial account. Give it 14 days to learn a bit about EVE and how it works. Maybe at the end of those 2 weeks you might have changed your mind.

Those 2 weeks are free and already started, just finish them and you might get addicted to EVE eventually.

How did you know it was 90 minutes? Does it say it in my profile?

You're quite right that I've barely gave the game a chance...all I did was leave the dock and flew towards ships, stations, belts and warped & jumped to various systems...docked at another station but it was all done off-screen. In X the docking, as you know, is done manually, you experience it all.

Basically I was really in the mood for some cosmic blissful spaceflight and wrongly assumed I would get it from Eve. After 90 minutes I realised that without my preferred first-person view I wasn't going to find what I was looking for. No doubt Eve offers something else, but I'm just not looking for it.




Fair point well made.