Millenium Falcon Print →
Gorgeous Giclée print of the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. I really, really want this.
Clint Mansell to Score Mass Effect 3 →
Not EVE, but too excellent not to post. I used a good bit of Mansell’s work in the SFF series. This is going to be a hell of a match up. I just hope he retains the nostalgic throwbacks to 80’s scifi scores that worked so well for the previous ME games.
Aarnio Mix →
Because I always love finding good music for my ambient flying needs, here’s a great mix for free download at a personal favorite site of mine, ISO50. Very chill. If you dug the Exploration Suite, you’ll dig this.
Love Movie Trailer →
Recipe for guaranteed amazing movie trailer: Take a big bowl of Kubrick, sprinkle in a little Moon, add a dash of Solaris and a whole truckload of slow motion. Season with synth to taste.
Keys to Remapping
One of my first and lasting complaints about EVE was the obvious lack of keyboard remapping support. Sure, you could modify commands here and there, but it wasn’t until the Incursion expansions were we given free reign to map our commands completely as we wish.
In order to take advantage of this, I decided to invested in a Razer Naga mouse: their apparent solution to MMO gaming. The claim to fame? The mouse has 17 buttons on it. Yes. 17. And 12 of these are accessed by your thumb alone. Sounds like overkill, but with a game as complex as EVE (have you thought about how many separate commands it takes to simply navigate your ship?) I thought it might be just the thing.
So with some effort and experimentation today, I feel like I’ve finally landed on my ideal keyboard/mouse setup with EVE. Breakdown below.
Mouse:
It has always bothered me that I couldn’t pilot my ship with one hand. Maybe I’m on the phone, maybe I’m eating chips, maybe you should get your head out of the gutter because I know what you’re thinking. Point is, on a long run between systems, it’s pretty annoying to have to reach for the keyboard to execute a simple warp or jump command if you don’t want to do the cumbersome multi-click method on the overview.
So my strategy is this: Any command that involves moving and maneuvering my ship will be mapped to the mouse:
Beautiful right? Want to warp to that next gate? Hold [2] and left click in overview. Land at gate, press [1] and click to jump. Guess what? Still eating chips, like a boss.
Note: I’m not entirely sure Prev and Next Target belong on the mouse, so this may be modified if I find a more intuitive place on the keyboard.
Keyboard:
So if my mouse is essentially the ship’s steering wheel, throttle, and brakes, then my keyboard will be my artillery. Freeing it of any navigation-related commands has let me dedicate the keyboard solely to modules and drones:
Simplicity is key: [1-8] keys are high modules, [Q-I] are my mids, and [A-K] are my lows. [Z-C] commands drones. [Ctrl] still targets. Essentially the module layout is an intuitive reflection of my HUD, without having to hit the finger-cramping shift-alt-control-etc combinations of old. Those will be reserved for opening windows.
Keys to Solid Remapping
If you’re thinking about taking a shot a remapping your EVE experience, here’s just a few things to consider:
- The more buttons, the merrier. Invest in a mouse or other peripheral that will give you the means to map a variety of commands.
- Separate types of functions. Use one device or area for navigation and another for modules. Overlapping keys with too many modifiers can become a mess quickly.
- Stay intuitive. Put some logic behind the layout, whether it reflects what’s on screen, or sticks to some other methodology you can remember without thinking about it. Just keep it simple.
This is a game changer for me, or at least a game streamliner. After a few days of practice, I have confidence I’ll be faster to react in a tight spot than I’ve ever been in EVE, because I won’t hesitate to think “is that a [shift-ctrl-1] or an [alt-ctrl 1]?”
Anybody else taken heavy advantage of the ability to remap? Do you have any other keyboard tips or tricks up your sleeve? I’d love to hear it.
Origins Week Ends
I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words and good buzz around the Sounds for Flying: Origins soundtracks. I was looking forward to a fun week as I finished the mixes last month, but I didn’t quite expect this kind of reception. The Chronofile saw a huge jump in hits this week, most of which came from CCP’s kind shout-out on the EVE Online Facebook page.
When I started gathering music for Origins I was reminded of a post I wrote in my first few months of playing EVE that talked about New Eden as I envisioned it—how each race might equate to cultures in other sci-fi worlds. These excerpts pretty well sum up my choices for the soundtracks:
The Gallente Federation is closest to Blade Runner. It’s foggy streets give refuge to derelict smatterings of capitalism run dry by free-wheeling liberalism. A world where each turn might bring you to a Jin-Mei fish sales cart ornate in gaudy neon lights, or by the foggy pink-lit windows of an Intaki-run whore house. It’s wealthy live in skyscrapers above the clouds, never seen by the common citizen, and their slums leave no ground surface of their planets untouched, eternally darkened by a canopy of smog.
You’ve undoubtedly heard the Vangelis influence in the Gallente suite (with some actual sound samples from the film itself in parts). The theme here was definitely future-noir. Dark, sexy, exotic, and lush.
The Amarr are closest to the Egyptians of Stargate, quick to power-feed on the enslaved to fulfill some greater, but blind, spiritual existence. They’re also thick with political corruption, backstabbing in the name of divinity, with hints of classicism more like the Houses of Dune. The sheer beauty of their golden architecture and massive monuments are meant to inspire religious empowerment, but more likely serve as a facade to hide the more horrific shades of red flowing behind stone walls.
I’ve been sitting on some incredible vocal excerpts from a Philip Glass opera about an Egyptian pharaoh that read perfectly into the Amarr sound. It was important to keep a heavy vocal theme throughout, but I didn’t want this to be church/monk music. It needed the twisted, dissonant undertones that spoke to their warped religious views.
The Caldari are somewhere between the stately order of Star Trek (probably more the NG era), and the lock-and-load militarism of Aliens’ marines. In terms of visuals, it feels like the cold, utilitarian, exposed-materials architecture of the ships in Aliens to perfection. Hard edges that say “it ain’t supposed to be pretty, but it gets the job done”. But I imagine their extreme capitalistic home-worlds are more like the clean vision of San Francisco in Star Trek. Everything is in order. Everything ready when you need it. But what none of those perfectly content citizens know are to what extremes their labor force in space are working to keep things that way.
Caldari was easily the toughest to pinpoint. Military music? Lots of drums? But then I thought maybe this one is the most meditative. War, industry, strategy are their arts. They’re subtle and forceful at the same time. Cold, precise electronica was the route.
And finally the Minmatar. This is junky-clunky space faring at it’s finest. Though not space-bound sci-fi necessarily, I think the raw, rusted look of their architecture, and the desperate-but-still-fighting story lends itself to a more post-apocalyptic reality, a la Mad Max. I mean, as far as they’re concerned, the Minmatar faced the apocalypse when they were enslaved by the Amarr. I would imagine, due to this, their planets would be poorly terraformed, leaving dusty deserts spanning all surfaces. Their gang infighting born from simply competing to survive with as little as possible. Their ships built from scraps and their weapons from natures most plentiful resources: fire and powder.
Guitar. Lots of guitar. I wanted this one to be the most rock/folk, but keep a futuristic/industrial edge to it. It had to be raw and real. Also, pay attention to the lyrics in the closing track (by Vex’d). You’d swear he was rapping about the Amarr invasion.
Now that all of the suites have been released, I’d love to hear opinions. Does each one feel as varied as the races? Which one resonates most with you? Did you gravitate toward the sounds of your character’s race?
SFF: Origins: The Federation Suite
AD 23121: The founding of the Gallente Federation.
For some, the founding of the Gallente Federation was a liberating testament to the free will of man. For others, though, it simply marked a naive ideology that masked the dark realities of life in a cultural boiling pot. The voices of the Federation come from all corners of the galaxy and mix to form a dense fog of underground dealings, beaurocratic corruption, seedy slums, and the most elaborate pleasures. But embedded amidst all the harsh reality is the pulse of real life—its muffled heartbeat escaping the night clubs in the veiny alleys of the city.
This is a new installment in a series of music compilations at The Chronofile called Sounds for Flying. You can find all of the volumes here.
SFF: Origins: The State Suite
AD 22684: Isuuaya, the first Caldari corporation, is established.
The first recorded civilization of New Eden was once a primal, war-driven people. But with the founding of their first coporation, the Caldari found a new purpose for their combative heritage, and exchanged the blade for the ultimate weapon—capitalism. During this period, the universe was introduced to the megacorporation, and was shown the power of economies wielded with militaristic precision. The sounds of the State are the cold heartbeat of industry, the zen of strategy, and a calculated mastery of the art of war.
This is a new installment in a series of music compilations at The Chronofile called Sounds for Flying. You can find all of the volumes here.
SFF: Origins: The Republic Suite
AD 22480: The Minmatar home planet of Matar is invaded.
The day the sun was blotted out of the sky by the first Amarr ships was, for some inhabitants of Matar, the last they would ever see it. Thus began the darkest days for the Minmatar people—days that would last for hundreds of years to come. Since this time, the Minmatar have become a fractured race, where survival is often every man for themselves. The sounds of the Minmatar are equally fractured—whether the industrial oppression of the enslaved, the tribal drums of vengeance, or the nomadic strum of the wondering warrior.
This is a new installment in a series of music compilations at The Chronofile called Sounds for Flying. You can find all of the volumes here.
SFF: Origins: The Empire Suite
AD16470: The First Amarr Emperor is crowned.
A time marking the birth of a race unwavering in their faith, resolute in their purpose, and driven to succeed by all means necessary. The ancient empire of Amarr, once established, expanded their reach like the hands of a god—bringing both the beauty of their grand theology and the terror of its judgement to the neighboring, lesser races. Twisted and glorious, the sounds of the first known Empire of New Eden arrive with a singular purpose as well—to inspire awe for the great and terrible.
This is a new installment in a series of music compilations at The Chronofile called Sounds for Flying. You can find all of the volumes here.
