I have been playing Evochron Legacy since April and my impressions are very positive.

The game spirit is the same as its predecessor, Evochron Mercenary, but EL has improved in many ways. Although there are now 2 main factions instead of 5-6 (the Alliance and the Federation), as well as 'War Zones' where you combat against aliens, EL is now much more dynamic in a way that territories can shift their owners all over the place. You can then do combat missions in 'Disputed' territories, and a News section will display how important (as a percentage) your territory control is. If you control a large part, then you can expect to get more friendly NPC ship support which you will urgently need. If you only control a small part, then get prepared for really tough battles with little support.

More about Combat:

The combat part of EL is the really shining part of the game, difficult and challenging like in EM, but a lot of weapons have been modified and added to be more effective. You will have to make a careful choice, and there is even the possibility to design your own canons, lasers or missiles, in a 'Weapon Lab'.

You think you can simply accept a mission where you must destroy a battleship? Dear, think twice about it because you really have to hire wingmen (which is rather expensive) to get a fair chance in succeeding, or you must get the support of a friendly battleship yourself which sometimes happens, but not always. Did I succeed to destroy such a ship by myself without the help of NPC ships ? NO.

Other missions require you to have special equipment installed, and there are no hints about which ones, you must find out yourself which makes the whole strategy and tactics interesting. This is where the 'Shipyard' comes into play where you have to make tough choices about setting up your ship for the mission or activity you plan. Doing explorations will need a totally different setup than any combat.

Finally, you get access to really strong military vessels by doing combat in the war zones against the Vonari.

Building:

A lot of provisory modules can be built serving different purposes like Sensor Stations which essentially are long range radars to spot objects and ships, repair stations, mining probes.

Permanet stations and cities on planets can also be built and directly fit into the territory system: build more modules to have more territory control and a better  running economy.

Yes, stations can be attacked and destroyed, but I didn't try out yet because really difficult. I haven't yet seen my stations being attacked but rumors are that this will happen and you have to defend it.

The station building itself is the most terrible part of the game IMO, the building interface needs an urgent upgrade in usability because joining station parts together is really tough and overly complicated.

Economy:

The economy system has been reworked and is now fully dynamic and obeys to the rules of an open market, which means: supply, demand and offer will rule the prices. If you sell tons of mining material in one place, the prices will drop significantly and you better go sell elsewhere next time.

There are 3 main goods to buy or sell: commodities, equipment for ships and weapons. If in EM it was very easy to find some short trade routes to make millions in a short time, you now have to search carefully for your commodities to buy and sell, also the military situation in a system will have a huge impact on the economy making the stock market greatly fluctuate. Do not expect to find a 'golden' trade route and use it forever, this will not work anymore, all this game part is fully dynamic. Also equipment prices have now rather small price margins, so you must concentrate on Commodities.

Crafting:

There is the possibility to craft known or special weapons for which you need a serie of commodities and minerals in order to construct. A dedicated 'Engineering Lab' can be found in any station to perform these operations. You can then sell or use the equipment or weapons you construct.

Civilian missions:

Most of the existing missions of EM are also present in EL, as well as new ones that are quite challenging, like hunting for meteors that are heading on a planet's surface and which you must intercept before they impact. Better have the right equipment!

Universe, grafics, artwork:

The universe is composed by a big Quandrant with known systems that are connected by Jump Gates, but hundreds of other systems, and even other galaxies, are not connected and you will have to discover by yourself by speaking to NPCs or making some vast exploration tours by your own.

One downside of the game IMO, is that although every 'sector' in a star system is now double in size, all the missions and activities that you will carry out are limited to said sector. This is a severe game play constraint, but it doesn't matter too much because you get plenty of challenges and puzzles to solve and you don't really get the feeling of 'playing in a box'. Also because the whole grafic engine is a new and much better one, especially the planet landscapes. You can now actually land on planets instead of just floating over the ground, and yes...you can also use a Terrain Walker to explore the planet and carry out special missions. Yes, with it you can make some funny spashes in the water (no, no fishes in the water; for that you will have to wait for No Man's Sky end of June) and it's even useful for combat against passing ships, I let you discover yourself.

Final impression:

Evochron Legacy has really improved. If you enjoyed Mercenary, then really get this new title because near all aspects have been reworked for even better immersion and challenge. A stunning work for a single developer 😎

XenonS

Nice review Xenons were you playing the single player game?, my only complaint about is that the NPC ship don't seem to do much in game

Hi Pinback,

I played SP only, also because I currently have trouble with my web connection (not related to EL). The combat AI system is very strong and diversified as are the different missions.

NPC ships: you have the option to trade with them by hitting a key (F4) once there are at close range which will open a com window; here you can also hire them for combat or "Ask for Information" which will give you more clues about the universe and interesting things to search for.

By using this com window to hire pilots you can form a whole fleet (I think up to 8 ships!) and use your pilots with dedicated Fleet commands.

AFAIK, the gameplay in MP does not differ radically from SP, but the combat part or teamwork is for sure more interesting in MP compared to SP only.

EL is really 'open' in what you can do and the role you want to play, the good is: EL doesn't have - like many space games - the lack of endgame content, which means if you want to discover all secrets and content, then you are go playing for a very long time probably 🙂

Greets,

XenonS

it's not so much the player interaction with the NPC,it's more to do with them not doing anything ie docking or mining, fighting with each other although I think they do this in the war zone. Not sure if their are any pirate attacks where the NPC ship fight each other.

I guess it might just be that I have not seen any of these things although I did see one of NPC ship bump into an asteroid once. 

Yes, I now see what you mean. I must say that my post above is more explaining what you can currently do in the game rather than to be a review, because I have omitted to mention some serious flaws in Single Player when it comes to NPCs and hostile regions.

So yes, I think EL is currently unbalanced in SP because you see way too many friendly ships when going in hostile zones, and no, there are no pirate factions currently. Also your stations don't get attacked unless you play MP, so SP is rather ripped compared to MP in combat activity.

I have debated the past days on the main game forum, and the developer, aka Vice, is very responsive and he constantly works on EL to make changes and fixes. But altough listening, he is decided to impose HIS way of implementing things, and I can hardly contradict him...

One major flaw with NPC's is: You are in disputed or hostile territory in one of your controlled stations. You will only meet enemy ships when doing combat missions, or when reloading the game in which case enemy ships will be around your station combatting agasint friendly NPCs. So I told Vice I will not reload the game just to get action...Let's see what comes out in the next update.

But NPC ships *do* mine asteroids or combat each other. But to find them, they will not just spawn  around you all the time, but you have to use a "Sensor Station" (a long range radar) in order to locate them and fly to their position...Humm...So they exist but seem to do squirmish or just wait far away from you...Interesting, but not very useful for the game action...

Also I have suggested that those stations built by the player should meet more resistance, more attacks by enemy battleships because too easy to build anyway. Vice told me that there were too many voices against this line of change, which surprises me and is a pitty...The game in SP should be urgently balanced to have the same challenge than in MP in my opinion, but obviously I can only make these suggestions and see if they come out...

Of course, the game is not made of combat alone, but the problem is that if I want to just explore a galaxy, I can easily do it with an astronomical program like the excellent SpaceEngine. A space combat simulatar should be mainly about combat. EL does that, but the balance is too artificial currently.

XenonS

But NPC ships *do* mine asteroids or combat each other. But to find them, they will not just spawn  around you all the time, but you have to use a "Sensor Station" (a long range radar) in order to locate them and fly to their position...Humm...So they exist but seem to do squirmish or just wait far away from you...Interesting, but not very useful for the game action...

I agree that it's a shame that their is not more NPC ship doing more in the game and the knock on effect is that the game lacks the so called living universe although it just nice to fly around and not have too fight every other NPC ship you meet.

Although having said that, the more dangerous a star system is then their should be more action from the NPC ships.

Not tried this in the game but do stations launch any ships to defend themselves or fire back at the player, must try this over the weekend and see what happens.

Not tried this in the game but do stations launch any ships to defend themselves or fire back at the player, must try this over the weekend and see what happens.

Stations will defend very well against attackers. They are surrounded by powerful turrets which are individual elements that launch missiles. Tip: concentrate on the Shield module first if you want to destroy the command module.

When I load the game - and alas only at that moment - I can see some enemy incursions and the station will start to react immediately, also any friendly ship around the station will engage in combat. The problem is: NPCs attack ships but never the station modules, which would force me to get out and defend (or I lose my station which I have to rebuild).

If these same  incursions would happen on a regular random basis in hostile regions, and also attacking the stations, the game would be so much better.

There was a heated debate on the forums to make stations more difficult to destroy (which is now the case) because in MP players didn't like to see their stations blown up by some isolated MP ships passing over there 🙂  But this was a pure MP problem.

The problem in SP is the opposite one: your stations are all safe, building any turrets is a waste of time...

I really hope this changes in the next releases

XenonS

The problem is: NPCs attack ships but never the station modules, which would force me to get out and defend (or I lose my station which I have to rebuild).

You know there's a game feature their if you are able to build stations in a game then you should have a squadron of fighter ship to defend it or the ability to hire them.

combat training video.

New update on Steam http://steamcommunity.com/games/398170/announcements/detail/595984744512777956 will have to turn on the updates and download this one.
 

Version 1.0348 includes the following improvements:

- AI traffic patterns updated to appear near and fly more consistently around stations.
- Engineer crew member can now perform emergency repairs to damaged ship subsystems slowly even if no repair device is installed.
- Spawn placement system updated to prevent rare potential mismatch when renaming a profile (causing a displaced spawn point).
- Territory quadrant map indicator colors changed to consistently align with text readouts (green = allied, red = enemy).
- New neutral faction affiliation option added (indicated by IND/Independent) for players, see notes for details.
- Build system updated to allow 'IND' stations to be constructed that allow any player to dock at.
- Default station module data stored to fixed template for possible future functionality.
- 'IMG' faction label renamed to 'IND' to support new independent faction option.
- Terrain texturing changed for improved detail appearance at higher altitudes.
- Improvements to depth appearance and rendering for experimental VR system.
- Head movement factor value option added to vrsetup.txt VR file options.
- Several minor UI fixes for a few click ranges and indicators.
- Performance improvements for planets with plants and animals.
- Passenger transport objective added to single player mode.
- Minor fixes.

Now here is a space sim that is worth anyone's money, in fact so is the whole Star Wraith series for that matter.

Will be grabbing this update too. Thanks Pinback

Is Legacy going to be the last in the series? Wonder if he will work on a new IP now?

New update. http://steamcommunity.com/games/398170/announcements/detail/582476480917062275

 

Version 1.0388 includes the following improvements:

- Jump caster deployable option added (see notes).

- More customizing options added for menu graphics (customizing page updated).

- Tractor beam type mounted on ship now transfers to terrain walker so players can select which materials to mine with the walker as well.

- Space station module build point allowed to be one position step closer for production and storage modules connecting to smaller module types.

- Planet terrain impact damage now possible at higher cruise speeds (no longer requires engaging jump drive to overpower shield resistance).

- Moon impact damage now possible using consistent conditional parameters as planet collisions with the new impact damage system.

- Asteroid and asteroid cave impact damage behavior aligned with new collision impact damage system for planets and moons.

- AI system updated to allow hostile ships to travel closer to planet terrain while in pursuit of player or other ships.

- 25% pay bonus now applies to combat contracts accepted planet side (with waypoint(s) in atmosphere).

- Rare issue that could cause capital ships to appear at wide vertical angles after respawning fixed.

- Specular level on cockpits raised slightly to better align with other shiny metallic surfaces.

- Minimum water retrieval elevation reduced for closer proximity requirement to water source.

- By player request, shield module stacking recharge rate set to 70% per additional module.

- Vertical displacement that could occur when jumping near station command modules fixed.

- Increased AI travel paths near/around stations in multiplayer.

- A few minor fixes.

Don't no but I don't think it will be his last game in the series, but he really needs to change the game engine as the current one looks really dated now.

Dated it might be but I always thought it gave a certain charm to the series. If there is to be a new game and a new engine used I hope they keep the feel and look of the older games even if they are graphically superior.

New update. http://steamcommunity.com/games/398170/announcements/detail/593738655425353185

 

Version 1.0408 includes the following improvements:

- Ability to import a custom global asteroid mesh added (see customizing kit for details).

- Ability to import custom station/city module meshes added (single player only, see customizing kit for details).

- Military cockpit design updated to move upper canopy strut lower (below compass and console menu) and to add side struts.

- By player request, AI traffic and guidance systems updated to allow hostile ships to more frequently arrive near player in disputed and hostile systems.

- Rate of potential non-contract battle scenarios in disputed systems increased (including friendly and hostile ships jumping in for reinforcements).

- Low light visibility mode updated to additionally apply illumination to asteroids and metallic structures rather than terrain only.

- Fix for an issue where terrain walker step sounds could align with music volume rather than effects volume after switching views.

- Dedicated HAT control modes for game control devices now align with indicated device ID in configuration menu.

- New black hole effect (layered swirling accretion disk with dark center) and extended gravity field.

- Directive 88 in custom quests now clears any quest object left behind automatically.

- Altimeter updated to align with navigation distance scale factor.

- Dedicated sound option for disruptor effect added (s4c.wav).

- Heat alert indicator updated to be more visible.

- Aurora borealis effect added by player request.

- Lighting effects and visibility improved.

- Collision system added to jump gates.

- Improved MFD transition effect.

Notes:

The new aurora borealis system is designed to render with unique colors based on atmosphere type and provides an animated movement effect. If you would like to try your own custom textures for the effect, see the customizing kit for details.

For those interested in using over-sized DPI scaling values in Windows 10 (over 100% in display properties) rather than an aligned 1:1 pixel scaling (100%), one of the 'Locked (FS)' screen modes is recommended. When using the default 'Optimized' full screen window mode, the game will attempt to submit/adapt to an over-sized scaling level, which can look strange (blurry, low detail, etc) on some configurations. Using a locked screen mode will force the game to use a 1:1 scaling factor, even if the desktop scaling level is set to something else in Windows 10. As a result of the benefit of using locked screen modes with over-sized scaling conditions, the locked screen modes are no longer highlighted in red in this build.

To retain the original large value altitude readout scale level, simply create a text file name altitudemode.txt and place it in the hud folder (you'll need to create one if you haven't already) within the game's install folder.

Edit 10-11-2016: Quick patch uploaded which should help correct the 'runtime error 118' a few players have reported. If anyone encounters such an error at this point, please e-mail me the sw.cfg file from the game's save data folder (default location is c:sw3dgEvochronLegacy and sent to the address at http://starwraith.co m">starwraith.com > contact) so I can investigate it further. So far, tests have come back positive that this update should resolve the error.

And another update to the game.

 

Version 1.0418 includes the following improvements:

- Station attack alerts in multiplayer now include name of attacking player in message log.

- Dedicated contract objectives added for terrain walkers (survey, plant sample, and lost item recovery).

- 3D item description icon for terrain walker now constructed from modules in memory for optimal loading performance.

- Server programs updated to display station attack alerts in message log (including new addition of the name of attacking player).

- Smoothing now standard across all texture detail modes for softer light reflections and higher detail appearance.

- Particle cannon weapon range and damage level tapering updated to align better with indicated MDTS range value.

- Scenarios that could result in parts of a nebula cloud or planet ring being left behind during training fixed.

- Radar display mode 1 horizon plane separated from base texture image and is now a fully 3D rendered surface.

- Energy score displayed in shipyard now includes higher base capacitor level for military ships in value.

- Target MFD detail mode ship orientation tracking indicator also updated to render as a full 3D surface.

- HUD target direction indicators updated in VR to remain locked to a fixed orientation (player request).

- Issue that could cause faction ID mismatches in cooperative delivery contract in multiplayer fixed.

- Default VR depth scaling and head movement scaling adjusted based on player feedback (see notes).

- Collision system added to plant structures, including potential damage for higher speed impacts.

- Pitch ladder depth reduced to better align with gunsight depth and render ahead of lens flares.

- Compass cylinder 3D position updated to better align with menu frame in experimental VR mode.

- Waypoint placement updated to better account for potential planetary defense ring conditions.

- 25% pay bonus notification line moved to below contract pay line to avoid overlapping.

- 25% pay bonus notification added to relevant planet side missions in war zones.

- Radar range and mode controls enabled for terrain walkers.

- New mesh structure and texture for terrain walker cockpit.

- New mesh structure and texture for jump gate object.

Notes:

The server programs will now display attack alerts in the message log. The name of the attacking player will also be displayed (and recorded in the server message log). When an alert is logged, it will display the sector location of the attack, the faction of the attacking player in brackets, the name of the attacking player, and finally the faction of the module being attacked in parenthesis.

For radar display mode 1 and target orientation indicator, the new horizon plane 3D surface also has a new additional dedicated index for its texture. The filename is 'ccpitblue1c.png' and details are included in the customizing kit. The horizon plane has been made into a full 3D rendered surface to better align with the 3D sphere in the experimental VR mode.

The new default values for the experimental VR system are 3.4 for 'EyeDistanc', 3.4 for 'HeadMScale', and 0.4 for 'VRUIScale'. So if you want to adjust those further, simply make changes to any vrsetup.txt file you may have in place. And if you want to restore the original values for any reason, they are 1.0, 1.0, and 0.5 respectively.

Particle cannons now have an increase of at least about 80 meters to their range. This helps them better align with their indicated MDTS locking ranges. Some custom weapons may have over an 80 meter increase, depending on their previous MDTS locking range values. So overall, particle cannons can now shoot a little farther and should better line up with their locking ranges. They can also now shoot a little past their MDTS locking distance, but not by much and their damage effectiveness can deplete when over the MDTS limit.

Since smoothing is now standard across all texture detail modes, the 'High + Smoothing' option has been removed from the Options menu. More objects in the game now also have smoothing applied for a more unified appearance between various structures in the game. A new 'Surface Smoothing' option has been added to the texture detail menu that will still allow you to turn smoothing on or off as may be desired.

New update due tomorrow for the game. https://steamcommunity.com/games/398170/announcements/detail/1702824120904879129