Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Bio Funnies #4
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
EVE Blog Banter #12 I-pod Capsuleer
This is my first attempt to join in the Eve Blog banter created by the great CrazyKinux. I have not attempted to get involved in any previous ones due to time restraints or because the particular subjects had been way over my head.
This one however requests a post on how Eve can be made mobile and since I am an I-pod touch user I figured I should pipe up and let my voice be heard. After all there is the chance to win a billion isk… or maybe a key-ring and mug…or maybe not.
Hell, sign me up anyway…
I wish there was an application for my I-pod that retrieves data through API-keys and the Eve server. It should look slick, handle smoothly and have some really useful tools. I think a catchy Eve related name for the application would be nice, maybe something like…er… ‘Capsuleer’?
What it already exists? But it has some free slots you say for future additions? Mmm… interesting. Please find my additions below;
Headlines
In this section one will find some of the top blogs in the eve community displayed. Updated automatically when a selected blogger posts a new story. It also has some CCP and Eve news updates.
A nice addition would be the option of leaving comments straight from the I-phone.
Pilots
Now this is very prominently the most important feature of the application. Any eve pilot will have had that one moment in the middle of the night where they sat upright in bed sweating, having just realised they forgot to add a skill to the skill queue.
Well no more. With this submenu it is easy to keep track of what skills are queued up and when they finish; reducing the chance of a pilot missing out on those precious skilling-hours.
In a future edition of the application there should be a possibility of actually adding to the skill queue via the application itself.
Skills
This has a clear overview of loaded pilots current skills and how long learned skills would take if added to the skill queue.
As an addition there is an option to view all skills available in the game to see what skills would be useful to get in the future.
Agent Finder
There is a great website that supplies every possible solution in the agent business. May it be that you are looking for a combat mission agent or a science project manager this application should be able to fulfil exactly what this website offers.
Eve maps
Dotlan could be the base for this part of the application to help in how to find your way around the Eve universe. The maps should indicate each systems security status, who owns what space and what amenities are available in what solar system.
Eve-mail
This should sync with the well out of date Eve mail setup available at this stage. Eve mails should come in and should be able to be replied to like any other email server.
Scientist
It would be nice to be able to keep track of ones science projects.
Part of this menu ought to tell you with what science agents you have how many datacores accrued.
The other part of this should keep track of what science projects are outstanding and of what type; copying, invention etc.
Constructor
Similar to the Scientist menu this should keep track of outstanding building projects
Secondly it would be cool if Grismar’s building tool would be made available somehow.
Contracts
Yup I want to know how my outstanding contracts are doing. Have they got a bid on something has someone bought my 400 mil Raven?
Market
Full market details on current market prices for a start. I don’t believe that this part should be too hard to get on a mobile platform with the many sites already available.
Furthermore it would be great to see how my buy and sell orders are doing.
Item Browser
The only reason I keep a second Eve related tool on my I-pod is because Capsuleer doesn’t sport an item browser. Iclone has a pretty good base for the idea but is very messy. However it’s the only mobile item browser and I like to read up on ship details, module info etc. when I am on the bus to work.
Fitting Tool
Need I say more? A big part in eve is how to fit your ship and if your desired fit actually is possible with the skills you have. Bring on mobile EFT!
Test Flight
Test flying your fittings made in the fitting tool in this part of the application should at least give a feel of the ships speed and DPS output. Clearly the graphics won’t be as good as in the game and PVP would probably not be possible but as GalaxyOnFire has proven 3D PVE can look pretty sharp and handle ok on a touch screen device like the I-pod.
Server status
It is always nice to have a general time to keep when making appointments in eve. Since the pilots are from all over the world it is nice that all live by one clock and one time; Eve online time.
The server’s online/offline status is also available just in case it’s not already worked into your natural body clock.
Options
For changing background images, help messages, sound options and sync options.
About
The must have disclaimer bit until the application gets accepted by CCP as the best available and probably better than anything they could produce themselves.
That’s my two cents anyway. I love the Capsuleer application and can’t wait for it to expand and do even more great things. Maybe Roc Wieler and Pyjama Sam take some of the ideas listed above and pay me a few billion isk in show of appreciation =).
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Weekly Update #7
O my, this week has flown by. I have had some decent eve time this week but have not completed all I intended to do. I blame heavy drinking and too much work.
It appears I have lost a follower…=( . I had from the start of this blog pretty quickly gained 13 followers. Now this does not necessarily matter or bother me, but it is nice to be liked isn’t it?
I get more and more shout-outs related to my blog and in general pilots are very complimentary on what I do. I have had some requests for duels on a non-CDM basis and I sure intend to pick these up. Please read Kirith’s blog on an interesting/very true opinion on this particular subject.
Now yes I write a blog and yes I fly futuristic space ships but my general RL pc skills suck. I have no idea how to keep track if people that actually read this blog and if so how many. Surely there is a way to keep track of this kinda thing?
Now one thing bothers me in myself; if I don’t care about what people think of me and if I do this blog for my own satisfaction…why do I like the shout-outs? Why do I want to know how many people actually read this? Why does it hurt I lost a follower?
I don’t know yet but I do intent to get back to it. If in the meantime anyone could tell me how to keep track of visitors/readers etc please let me know…
Celebrity Death Match;
First off; my apologies to Mr Kirith Kodachi for not having had a chance to meet up for the pending Celebrity Death Re-Match. I intend to catch up with you very soon, this week if at all convenient for you… =)
I did get to squeeze in a CDM with 00sage00 however with a pretty poor result on my end. I had started off pretty well with a convincing victory but lost the immediate rematch and got completely annihilated in the deciding battle. I tip my hat to Mr Sage for his unusual fitting choices and beating me as I had done with some celebs earlier in my CDM career. Please the relevant CDM post for the full story.
Also with this CDM completed I have prepared to publish a second ‘rambling’ post with updated stats. Some of which made certainly made me laugh… or think… and interestingly enough 00sage00 will claim the ‘most words written for a single CDM post’. More to follow soon; as I shall post the statistics after CDM #15. Please don’t forget to send me suggestions or request for stats you would like to see from Celebrity Death Match.
Helpdesk;
In the helpdesk section I intended to post some more guide related stuff but again most guides have been done over and over again. There is space to give my point of view but this takes time, something I currently do not have. Also some of the subjects I intended to tackle have actually been discussed at length this week by some very good bloggers. And they sure did put up good arguments and suggestion. Breaking out the subject in easily understood bits then discussing it. I think the topics; Cloaking and D-scanner use are somewhat taken care of…
I did however post a helpdesk blog this week; explaining the standard CDM rules.
Pirating;
I had booked this Friday night off work (a first for a long time), well at least I managed an earlier finish. I had done this for the mere chance to fly out with the Bastards on their 2 year Anniversary Faction Roam.
I have indeed applied to join the Bastards full time as I have had a great time flying with them so far and also the pirating side of eve has become extremely attractive to me.
My faction ship choice had become the Worm, hoping secretly the Bastards would delay the roam until after the Dominion update. But either way I was happy just to be there. I owned a Worm about a year ago and paid 40 million isk for it. Scouting the market these days you will rarely find one for less than 100 million. It’s an expensive start to the night for sure but I did manage to pick up a ‘bargain’ Worm for 100 million already rigged.
It was speed rigged, not my prime choice and it did force me to fit the little devil as a nano tackler. I didn’t mind I just wanted to come along, and I did not expect to bring it back in one piece after the roam.
Flashfresh the Bastard CEO fc’d the 6 hours I spent online with a mixed fleet. We started of in Evati with 19 pilots, some Bastards, some potential recruits but all in faction ships. Some of the ships; Caracal Navy Issues, Firetails, a Worm (mine), and a beautiful Gallente Navy Vexor…
Action was sparce but the fleet had been good fun to be with. We go a few kills ourselves, lost a few pilots here and there… Including myself…
An annoying Ishtar and his Sleipner friend took a good 40 minutes out of our scheduled roam and in a sheer attempt to impress my prospective colleagues I went in for a hero-tackle… I can merely quote Flash and say; MWD + straight line = death.
So I lost the worm, hey ho. I started purchasing a Kestrel and fittings in the area we where in but with supply low in that sector I ended up just flying back to Evati to pick up a ship. On arrival in Evati I chose a Crow instead to make sure I could catch up with the fleet a little quicker…
On arrival back with the fleet I managed to get involved with some more tackles and kills, finally dropping Nashh’s sec status to negative. The night ended with the remainder of the fleet being camped in for some time but with some careful planning Flashfresh got us back home safely.
I missed out on the opportunity to fly home z0de’s Navy Vexor but with one recently purchased myself is shall enjoy that Demon soon enough.
Watch this space…
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Celebrity Death Match #14 00sage00
I contacted Mr Sage earlier this week hoping for him to accept a Celebrity Death Match. Now straight away the conversation revolved on what a celebrity is and why I picked him to fight. It is an interesting question that I clearly have thought about before. What bothered me after our initial conversation is the fact he said I should fight myself…
What? Me? A celebrity?! Ha! Mmm.. no not yet.. maybe soon, but not yet. I get more regular shout-outs in local regarding this specific type of post however there is lots more coming. I like the attention I must admit but that is not why I started doing this. I simply hoped to entertain myself and if people like what I do it’s a mere bonus…
Mr Sage’s name has been coming up more and more, his name usually at the top of any well known comms channel, because of the funny way he’s spelt it. His blog already prominent and becoming more so every day. His story’s are well written and makes one wish for the next update soon.
Time for a CDM? You bet!
After a few swift eve-mails the location was to be in my new home of Evati requiring me to travel nowhere far for the first time in my CDM career. The fight time was to be at 23:00pm Eve time. We agreed to fight in Tech 1 Frigates without any ECM modules or drones.
Again my fight with Venom resonating fear…
After I spotted Mr Sage online earlier in the evening I figured I’d give him a shout to see if he could meet a little earlier to give me a chance of a normal nights sleep before continuing my RL week of hell. The rising star unfortunately had a fleet operation scheduled but established he would contact me if he would be available earlier than the agreed time.
Myself?; I joined in another Bastard roam, this time under the quality fleet command of Realyf, and ventured into wormhole space. We managed to get a Battleship and a Battlecruiser kill but unfortunately I lost my myrmidon under heavy sleeper fire. Not a real worry as it had only been a Tech 1 fit but the trip home in a pod was done in shame. I had hoped to shine as I have recently applied to join the Bastards full-time.
As I returned home ready to bring out another Battlecruiser I got the call. Sage himself had just returned from his combat operation and he himself and his crew had returned in pods too.
Strangely comforting the fact that we had both failed even though my loss was bigger than his…
I was a little unprepared with this early call to action and mid travel I decided to re-plan my route to meet him instead of him meeting me. I had a quick look to see if I could contract out a ship to Nashh from another character but my limited contract slots did not allow me to. And the fact my smallest contract (at 500 mil) outstanding had a buyer already I decided to just buy the ship I needed when I got to the combat location.
Knowing the fit I wanted of by heart by now, it didn’t take me long to get the required modules for my ‘Kestrel of doom’. The only addition I made was Tech 2 Javalin Rockets as a spare in my hold. I had thought of this before but my fight with Hallan Turrek had shown me that it was a necessity.
Without too much delay we both undocked and met at Planet 1 of our agreed system and stole from each others cans. We both warped to planet 2 after, to have a fresh start, and battle commenced…
The enemy Punisher locked my kestrel immediately and commenced fire. His Nosferatu creating electric fireworks, sparking manically between our vessels…
My confidence grew as more alcohol went down my gullet and more rockets slammed into his quickly vaporising shields. There was no need to switch to the less powerful-long range rockets I held back just in case. A feeling of frustration started building as I wished I had fitted the Javalins in my fight with Roc Wieler and Hallan Turrek.
I calmed myself… the beer was good.
I refocused my attention to my current foe as his armour started to collapse at a steady pace. My shields were taking some damage but not as fast as his armour where now melting and I prepared to record the moment…
It hadn’t come?! What?! I quickly pulled up my head up display again and to my shock my launchers had de-activated. How strange I thought. I did overload my racks but had instructed the cancellation of that before I prepared the screenshot…
My webifier on one rack had completely burned out as did the scram on the second. The launchers, although damaged, were still working but had deactivated. With his hull already peering through, his Punisher did not last long after the 4 rocket launchers spewed out more death…
With his Frigate easily dispatched I felt confident enough to accept an immediate re-match in Cruiser hulls. We talked some about my fitting choice and I posted the saved ‘Gank Kestrel’ fit in our communications window, immediately regretting it.
Accepting a rematch in Cruiser hulls brought added problems to my evening. I had by now drunk enough to kill 3 grown men. However my clear victory gave me super human confidence as I uploaded EFT. A quick look through my own made recommended fits came up with ‘The Mynxee Killer’. ‘That’s the one’ I said to myself. My fight with Mynxee had been so close that now with better skills and with her recommended over heating skills I was sure to win…
I had briefly tried to fly a Thorax in my fight with Spectre just the week before but he had quickly shown me not to fly something you can’t fit well.
I undocked the sleek hull I had grown to love many months ago… she looked beautiful. The local sun gleaming brightly of her body as I aligned to planet 1. I had fitted the ship rather quickly but had waited some time for my celebrity target.
I did not mind. The wine was good…
Cans where stolen from and Planet 3 was aligned as I prepare for battle number 2. I was to win this for sure. My confidence soaring as I landed 20 clicks from my target.
Drones calmly deployed, started their approach and fired the additional damage to my already firing missiles. Fury was their name and they delivered just that; fury. The shields stripped away from the enemy Maller, easily. I prepared to gain more distance from Mr Sage but realised I had not fitted any speed modules whatsoever. Hey? I thought this fit was supposed to have at least an afterburner?
It doesn’t matter I figured as his armour was starting to fade. My shield still fully intact as my drones had taken the damage for me… His armour decreasing with every volley I attempted to retract my remaining drone to save it but it was too late. On route back to its hold the Hornet II exploded in a bright spark. Never mind I told myself again as the Maller started to encroach on my personal space. It is too late for him… I am reclaiming my victory status in this little adventure. Ha! Ha ha!
My euphoria didn’t last long. His Armour stalled at about 25% and didn’t decrease any further. My shields however had started to melt quickly, I fact very quickly. I panicked briefly hoping to change the outcome but realised I couldn’t affect the result any further…
I was unable to increase my speed and therefore the distance between us. I could not boost my shields as I had a passive fit My damage output had already reached its limit and that was just it…
My mouth opened slightly as I could only look on as my shields lost the last bit of resilience… I did not move knowing what this meant… my armour gave way without a single second of resistance, as did my hull.
Floating in space I managed to utter ‘GF’, still stunned by the outcome.
We docked up and exchanged the goods dropped as we did before. With the score 1 vs 1 there had to be a third fight. There cannot be a CDM without a winner surely.
I comforted myself in the fact there would only be one ship to fly home after our third fight. Frigates it was to be again and I knew I would not change my ship from my previous super victory. Why would I?
The wait for my opponent took a little longer again. I had by now well stayed up beyond my desired bedtime.
I did not mind… the rum was good…
I remembered the fact I had given away my ‘Gank Kessy’ fit but decided not to change my tactics. I gave a lame attempt to bluffing instead. As I waited I explained I too was looking for an ulterior fit. Hoping to throw him off preparation of a ‘Gank Kessy kill fit’.
I mentioned a different ship type and different speed mods…
Maybe the beer, wine and rum had got to me. Maybe I just can’t bluff to save my life… I don’t know. What I do know is that our fight lasted as long as rabbit sex.
After landing our guns opened up and his shields stripped away from him, a comforting sight normally, not when my shields had been removed within 2 volleys.
Hazadawhat?!..
With primed lasers Mr Sage peeled me like a banana would be peeled by a skilled surgeon wielding an axe.
I was gob-smacked. A loss? Ok no problem. A close match? Ok no problem. Being beaten up by long range weapons? Sigh… ok, no problem. Being annihilated within seconds? Not ok.
I had to cough up a drunken ‘GF’. Damn it. What had just happened?! Bewildered I decided to dock, ashamed of my extremely convincing defeat. Kicking myself for allowing to much time for him to come up with a fit that could kill my Kessy.
Mr Sage played it well, too well in fact and I did not.
Am I gutted? Am I upset? Mmm yeah, obviously I would have preferred to win, but it has been a great opportunity to meet a great person, one sure to make his name very big in the Eve community.
I am pleased I have been one of the first to be a part of this rising stars career, and am glad to provide the proof that its not the age of a character, but the skill of a pilot that makes the difference.
Don’t be a stranger Mr Sage…
Related links/posts;
00sage00’s account; http://00sage00.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/celebrity-death-match/
CDM kill board #1; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=20
CDM kill board #2; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=21
CDM kill board #3; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=22
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Helpdesk #2 The 10 CDM rules
1; Fights are for a kill-mail; to the death; until a ship is destroyed.
2; No warping off. Warping off would be considered a dishonourably loss.
3; No podding.
4; Celebrity chooses fight location.
5; Celebrity chooses ship type.
6; Celebrity chooses fitting restrictions (i.e. no ECM, no ECM drones)
7; Celebrity chooses fitting must haves (i.e. must fit point, must fit BS sized gun)
8; Celebrity may warp in at any distance; if I warp in I warp in between 0k and 20k.
9; No distance greater than 50k should be taken from each-other unless previously agreed otherwise.
10; No podding.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Weekly Update #6
O my word. Work has ripped me a new one this week. Various members of staff bailed, ill or fake ill or had to be fired. Obviously this meant me picking up the shit and the extra hours. 70 hrs later and I am knackered. I am getting too old for this stuff.
Subsequently this means I got minimal eve time in. I did manage to get 2 CDM post in this week; Spectre and Hallan Turrek. Spectre late on Sunday just after posting my weekly update and Hallan mid week. The result has been disastrous as I lost both. The CDM score now swinging in the celebs favour for the first time again in 12 fights.
A CDM re-match has been agreed (after much fist-shaking) with Mr Kirith Kodachi and shall be done at some point this week. Kirith has claimed a first in the fact we shall be duelling in Destroyers this time around. I haven’t got high hopes as I haven’t flown a destroyer for at least a year but it shall be good fun for sure…
The super secret epic CDM is coming along nicely but I can’t disclose too much just yet. I can however tell you the date of the fight will be 11th October 2009 and as we get closer to the date I shall drop a few more hints…
I had some issues with the comments on my blog and wish to thank Manasi and Kirith for there assistance. I hope to have it working again now on posts made after this. So for anyone that tried to post a comment on CDM 12 & 13 please comment on this post instead.
A short post for me this week but I have bags under my eyes that could contain a weekly food shopping trip. Diafbkvazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……….