I’ve been short on time for Invictus week, an in-game celebration of the UEE. But these are the 2 days where Crusader (of Mercury Star Runner smuggling ship fame, as well as the Starlifter behemoths) and MISC (Freelancer for cargo, Starfarer for refuelling) exhibit. Being a MISC fanboy and not having seen the new transports, I had to make time.
Once you get the the entrance of the convention centre, you are greeted by UEE propaganda, inspiring statues, encouragements to sign up and see the world! Also, of course, several gift shops.
There are plenty of photo ops.
Even I had to sputter when I tried to buy the cool commemorative jacket for the event. I was greeted with:
Insufficient. Stock. :-| It’s like they don’t want my money…
But hey, at least I could go and enjoy the main event. Quick stop at the entrance hall to grab a coff… What do you mean you only sell water and burritos?!?!
The focus of the event is on military ships and components. But, even then, the cargo variant of the jaw droppingly large Starlifter (handy if you want to carry a few tanks or lots of cargos) were there to admire and visit.
I don’t think I can quite convey the feeling of awe when you open the cargo bay from inside the Starlifter. The hiss of the hydraulics and the rumble of the moving plates is plain awesome.
Also, Tanks. Whatever Brian says, tanks are cool! :)
Some halls are more focused on the UEE showing off its fleet. Here is the F8 Lightning which features prominently in Squadron 42, I believe.
There are also capital ships to visit and admire in orbit, but those will have to wait for another day.
Nearly everything on the show floor is fair game to jump into. A rocket launching buggy? Sure!
The server room of the Star Runner (which will support the data smuggling gameplay “some day”), or the maze of service crawl spaces under the decks? Have at it!
Those crawl spaces would make a great space to hide and fight back if someone tried to board your ship, by the way.
The Freelancer MIS is the military variant of the Freelancer. Even more spartan than its civilian counterparts, it looks pretty fierce on the outside though.
I got lost, again, in the hulking Starfarer behind. That ship is a maze. But hey, I got to inspect the giant refuelling tanks up close (I died in the vacuum of space last time I tried that).
I also got to pretend to be a military captain in my command room. Attention!
The thing that strikes me again and again is the attention to detail both outside and within the ships. The metal looks distressed where it should. Each components and bulkhead feels authentic.
Swing the camera under a Razor fighter, and you get to see how much detail goes in the mounts and missiles attached to its underbelly.
I didn’t think I would enjoy walking around a few halls looking at ships. But each hall has plenty to see. I soon found myself losing track of time and just enjoying the sightseeing.
Next stop, use the Starlifter I rented for free to go see the UEE Javelin and Bengal in space!
PS: Not a single lift killed me. Nothing weird happened (apart from the bloody in-game jackets being “out of stock”. Thanks CIG).
I do like their ship models :)
That’s one thing nobody in their right mind would argue they don’t put lots of care and love into. :)
The sights and sounds are just right. That’s what having space legs should be like.
Damn, I always ignore the emails about events…I need to start paying attention! Is this one still going on?
Nice, thanks. I’m about to go on holiday but I’ll see if I can drop in quickly beforehand.
Out of curiosity, is anyone who doesn’t yet have an account planning to try the free flight event this week-end?
I don’t expect a lot of people to want to put up with the hassle of installing and getting started for just a week-end. But if you are planning to, I might have some free time on Saturday if you need some “SC support” on call. I think that all the ships that were available this week might still be available to rent for free at New Babbage. But even if only Drake ships are available, that gives you the Cutlass to fly for free. It’s a cool ship. I’m also happy to let people fly my ships if one is not available to rent. I’ll just repeat what I said last time in case anyone decides to create an acount:
Also, refers to this post if you want a quick “get started” video:
I already had an account but this’ll be my first time playing this weekend, if I can manage it. Glad I upgraded to 900mbps last week for this download!
Cool. I hope it works out OK. I have no clue how stable things are during Invictus week-ends. There is an option to add friends in-game. My in-game name is Wendelius_HA. Feel free to add me if you’d like. If you are online while I’m around and happen to have questions, I can drop by to help.
Thanks! I added you; my username is shocktahedron. No worries if playing extensively doesn’t work out; I’m just curious to mess around with it.
Edit; this seems familiar already!
I mean, standing on furniture is how you express happiness in the verse. It’s normal! It gets creepy when they start floating though… They all float down here…
I’ll add you. Messing around cluelessly is definitely part of the “fun”. :)
That’s a great name. ;)
From what I’ve seen online, today is a smaller expo. There is no holo room for concept ships and the star of the show (on display in the main hall) is the Carrack.
I’ve never been inside it, but it looks like a pretty cool ship from the outside.
There are also a few fighters (Hornets) on display (good if you want to try a bit of PVE bounty fights). I’d definitely rent whatever ships are available to give them a try. But treat yourself to a ride in the Carrack. It’s meant to be pretty cool.
So Invictus is over. I didn’t have a chance to play near as much as I wanted, but I did enjoy trying various ships. It was pretty awesome to see those up close outside and in.
The Carrack has a map room for navigation that might not look out of place in a Mass Effect game.
The Terrapin, an exploration vessel for 2 crew, has a navigator seat that looks only a tiny bit ominous.
I got to see just how frakking big the Caterpillar really is. So many customisable cargo units. When you zoom out, you realise how insignificant my guy was.
Mind you, big is relative. @Lantz 's favourite, the Kraken - a floating mobile base - was on display in the holo suite.
It went on sale a few times during the day and sold out every single time, for between $1600 and $2400 depending on the model (if I remember correctly). I honestly have no words.
There was also the plain bizarre. I’m sure nothing untoward happened here!
I moved along. Those were not the bodies I was looking for.
Flying those ships and seeing how each has their own design language made me want to share a few cockpits. Please excuse the wonky stitched perspective.
All the screens and most of the buttons you see below are fully interactive. I can start my engine, contact a friend, check for damage or change the power distribution between components by interacting with the right physical input.
I do, however, tend to use keyboard shortcuts quite a bit because I don’t have eye tracking.
Aegis Avenger Titan
A no frills light cargo ship with enough space for a few boxes or some minerals in the cargo space at the back. Its cockpit it as workmanlike as the ship itself.
Origin 325A
Origin are the makers of luxury ships. From single crew racers or fighters to the giant passenger cruise ships I have shown before. Their cockpit is accordingly more focused on HUDs and fancy displays. The 325A remains a fighter and fairly simple. It does, however, come with luxury amenities for the pilot at the back and the “sun roof” gives great visibility.
Constellation Andromeda
Of course, if you can travel in a freighter / gunship with space for a pilot and 2 co-pilots, you get to enjoy a lot breathing room and visibility. You get a lot more space to display all the information required to fly the ship.
Absolutely gorgeous, no doubt about it. Thanks for these. As pretty as they are though, I can’t help thinking that I’d rather have somewhat less astounding ships and more actual gameplay that works, but then, I have zero money invested in this.
Even if everything worked perfectly, though, spending many thousands of real-world dollars on a single virtual ship is not something I can, personally, get my head around. YMMV, of course!
I’ve always liked pretty much all of the ship designs (all the wheeled vehicles I think are big misses for 900 years in the future). They are great except the one thing that drives me crazy is all the giant struts. Like this is in light speed travel future with artificial ‘gravity goo’ technology and that Connie’s view is worse than a modern airplane. I just don’t get that at all. They made a whole lore company that makes ‘diamond laminate’ for the cockpits and then giant struts blocking the views.
They just need in game lore explaining how those ships were designed by Kerbals. Those guys love struts.
^this
ps: It doesn’t change my opinion that Star Citizen is totally a scam that’s going to blow up the minute plebs stop giving them money.
Nah. If they were designed by Kerbals they would have lots of struts AND boosters. ;)