Until last weekend I hadn't played ED much at all since the Mac beta, and almost had to force myself to return to it. But I am sure glad I did force myself, because that famously "inch-deep ocean" game experience seems to me to be getting a little bit deeper now (even in Solo mode, where I play exclusively).
Case in point: I was returning from a mining expedition to a nearly system. When I jumped into my destination system, some AI ship called out that he had been looking for me, and sure enough I spotted his ship (an Eagle) on sensors pulling up behind me as if to interdict me. That by itself was already something I hadn't seen happen before. So even though I didn't expect it was really required, I decided this was an opportunity to practice executing an escape maneuver I'd dreamed up, which began with a drop from supercruise. Based upon the game that I'd been playing before this weekend, I figured that just dropping from supercruise would be the last I'd see of that AI ship.
How wrong I was! Only a few seconds after my drop, suddenly that AI ship popped out of supercruise behind me! "Son of a gun," I thought, "the AI ship actually followed my wake!" And he even did so quickly enough that I had no time to complete my planned escape maneuver. "Well okay," I thought, "guess I'll just have to kill him, then." I'd boiled up many a lone Eagle previously using my Cobra's twin beam lasers, so no problem, right?
Well, not exactly. Now I got to see some of those much-talked-about combat enhancements, first hand. I proceeded to tussle with this stubborn AI for a number of minutes, and although I got his shields down a couple of times and did at least some hull damage, I was having a surprisingly tough time. And then ... the cavalry arrived, in the form of several authority ships. First time I'd ever seen the authorities arrive in response to a pirate attack, too ... wow! Sure enough, they scanned all parties involved and then helped me to finally take down that Eagle.
When I finally got back to the station with my cargo intact, I had to stop for a second and ask myself "that was actually solo mode ED that I was playing, right?"
All I can say is that, perhaps for the first time since I bought the game, that trip made me feel like I got exactly the ED experience that I had always hoped to get. It seems to me to be very promising, and certainly provided me with an evening I will remember for quite a long time. And not the last ... I plan to be back much more often for more, now. ED feels like it is finally turning the corner for me.
Case in point: I was returning from a mining expedition to a nearly system. When I jumped into my destination system, some AI ship called out that he had been looking for me, and sure enough I spotted his ship (an Eagle) on sensors pulling up behind me as if to interdict me. That by itself was already something I hadn't seen happen before. So even though I didn't expect it was really required, I decided this was an opportunity to practice executing an escape maneuver I'd dreamed up, which began with a drop from supercruise. Based upon the game that I'd been playing before this weekend, I figured that just dropping from supercruise would be the last I'd see of that AI ship.
How wrong I was! Only a few seconds after my drop, suddenly that AI ship popped out of supercruise behind me! "Son of a gun," I thought, "the AI ship actually followed my wake!" And he even did so quickly enough that I had no time to complete my planned escape maneuver. "Well okay," I thought, "guess I'll just have to kill him, then." I'd boiled up many a lone Eagle previously using my Cobra's twin beam lasers, so no problem, right?
Well, not exactly. Now I got to see some of those much-talked-about combat enhancements, first hand. I proceeded to tussle with this stubborn AI for a number of minutes, and although I got his shields down a couple of times and did at least some hull damage, I was having a surprisingly tough time. And then ... the cavalry arrived, in the form of several authority ships. First time I'd ever seen the authorities arrive in response to a pirate attack, too ... wow! Sure enough, they scanned all parties involved and then helped me to finally take down that Eagle.
When I finally got back to the station with my cargo intact, I had to stop for a second and ask myself "that was actually solo mode ED that I was playing, right?"
All I can say is that, perhaps for the first time since I bought the game, that trip made me feel like I got exactly the ED experience that I had always hoped to get. It seems to me to be very promising, and certainly provided me with an evening I will remember for quite a long time. And not the last ... I plan to be back much more often for more, now. ED feels like it is finally turning the corner for me.
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