Test Server Feedback

We have been told that there is sufficient time not to rush stuff into releases. Well that is s load of bollox tbh.


Dont REVISIT.....just wait until it's fixed BEFORE implementing.

FFS you always do this with every release and every "feature". Just STOP until it's sorted.

Thanks for answering, but don't you think that you guys should wait until its really ready?

Theres even a ******* video on youtube now... WTF

Dont incarna again, srsly... please?

CCP Huskarl, in his post, describes a number of details of ship look that he'd probably characterize as minor issues that he'd like to revisit over time after PBR's release. You largely agree on what the issues are, but you'd characterize them as game-breaking.

These types of questions are the kinds of things on which reasonable artists disagree all the time, and ultimately it comes down to the judgment of the designers on the project.

In EVE, the emotional connection players have to different aspects of the look of ships they fly regularly makes large look changes tricky. A detail that one player might characterize as iconic, or central to the impact of the design, might be seen by an art director as less important to the overall impression of the ship.

Note that our answer to this is not to simply say we know best, but to listen to feedback from the community as an important input to deciding where to focus attention as we improve ships further.

As CCP Huskarl said, we're releasing PBR into the game with the intent to iterate on it, and this necessarily implies that where it will be on Rhea's release day will not be perfect. However, across the range of hundreds of ships, they currently look pretty good, and each ship will at least meet our designers' minimum standard for that ship at release, while many will look much better.

That doesn't mean that your favorite ship might not have lost an element of its look to which you've become attached. What it does mean is that you should offer your feelings about it, as you have here, and we'll iterate on ships as we can.



Overall, feedback on PBR has been quite positive.

Most negative feedback on the forums has been in relation to the looks of specific ships or shared looks across individual factions, and those are the types of issues that we will focus on as we iterate. That feedback, particularly if it's presented specifically and clearly in relation to what details players feel don't work for them, can be very helpful.

More general comments, or ones that mainly express a negative emotional reaction rather than describing how the look could be better, don't help us that much.

Can we please see the reduction of certain factions/ships proliferation of "pimp my ride" on their skins....there is entirely too much chome finish on quite a few ships. They essentially look like i'm flying a christmas tree decoration...still too many ships with too many mirror-finish panels.

Others simply look like they were in a hurry driving through the paint shop and forgot half their color...and look like grey 'white models' with a hint of a couple color panels. (i'm looking at you Megathron, among others)

A lot of the Amarr ships (including T2 variants) look like they were designed to get as close to the sun as possible (SOOO MUCH reflective gold!)....sorta like they could replace the main reflective-shield dish from "Sunshine."

It's a mixed bag at the moment.

The shiny bits of Gallente ships are way too shiny. Even more so on Creodron ships. The Ishtar has been progressively looking worse. It looked good in the blueish color, less good in green as it is on TQ now, and the test server version is an even worse off-putting green and far too shiny. Someone mentioned Gallente ships looking like xmas tree ornaments on the test server. That comment was spot on. Large chromed shapes on the capital ships is particularly weird looking.

The Ivory base color on Amarr doesn't look as good as the old beige. Making them lighter like this makes them look less menacing. Beige is also closer in tone to the gold, so the ships are more cohesive that way. With the ivory their forms are being chopped up too much. Split in two. Its the same problem as the camouflage patterns, just not as severe.

On the other hand the detail on ships like the Naga, Rokh, and Oracle are much improved over the TQ versions. It's almost like the TQ versions don't have normal maps and the test version do. And the Confessor is quite detailed and interesting to look at as well, hopefully this is a glimpse at the future for all EVE ships.

I still think the Blackbird and it's variants are hard to decipher. The overall shape and design is good but the interior forms don't read clearly. It probably could have used a little simplification shape-wise in the middle. Bolder forms, less finicky plane-changes. And if you look at it from the side the texture resolution seems a bit low and the tower doesn't stand out enough from the rest of the forms.

Minmatar ships look a bit weird, particularly ones with large flat surfaces like the Fenrir or the two carriers. Its a bit odd how drastically the tone of the brown changes as you rotate the ships and they catch the light. They look waxy. Though I am only viewing these ships in the preview window, I can't fly them in space.

The way the ships react to space and the lighting in general is of course an improvement.

Awesome! My wish was answered :) Glad to know CCP is keeping an eye on player feedback with regards to the issue.




However, I do have to wonder if you guys have read most of the reactions in the graphics feedback thread - 'quite positive' is not how I would describe it.

Here's my specific feedback and spoiler alert, it's mostly not positive:

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5273377#post5273377

But seriously, Darwin, this very clearly seems like a feature you should hold off releasing until the visuals under PBR are satisfactory.

As a side note, I like the new Paladin. The former glowing red of carthum ships always looked toy-ish to me - the opposite of grand. The Absolution looked like a silly hot dog. The new darker hue of matte red is a positive change in that respect.

I'd say I'm leaning more toward positive than negative.

Caldari ships are generally improved. Some VERY much so (Naga and Rokh). Guristas are as well, or at least the Gila looks better and that's the ship I spend all my time in.

Amarr gold is more gold looking. I really don't like the lightened "ivory" for reasons I went into earlier, but I have seen no one else complain about that. So maybe I am alone there. Popular impression of Amarr seems positive. Confessor will be one of the coolest looking ships in the game.

Minmatar is generally fine/sameish or improved, the Rupture actually doesn't look quite so terrible anymore. It's one of the worst looking and dated looking ships on TQ but the reskin on the test server helps it. We can actually see inside the Typhoon's mouth now, so that's cool. I'd like to see some more lights and texture details inside there to make it look more like the cool concept art that was done for it. The Fenrir and carriers are the main problem on the Minmatar side.

Gallente seems to be the main complaint from people. But taking a look on the test server again and they generally seem ok now. A little overboard on the chrome still on some ships. And the Vexor/Ishtar model looks really nasty. Globby normal map, and some surfaces that used to appear smooth now appear faceted/low poly. Maybe that's why I dislike like the Ishtar so much. Because the Eos and Sin actually don't look too bad.

Some of the pirate ships are upsetting people. Guess that's the main issue now.

I don't think they should hold PBR back from release. Hold it back just for some pirate factions and a few Gallente and Minmatar ships? Nah. Its an overall improvement. Ships pop out from the background better now. I don't feel like I'm straining my eyes so much when I look at my ship anymore. And just fly a ship around a space station and see how dated the stations look now in comparison.