The mega-frontier just got a lot more micro. EVE Online is set to include a new hacking mini-game in its upcoming Odyssey expansion, explained in a recent dev blog . Developer CCP calls the feature a part of a larger move to expand and deepen the explorer role for pilots in the June 4 addition to the MMO/space-jockey simulator.
The basic mini-game appears to include permanent death, turn-based combat, and multiple subsystems to crack open, all played out through a top-down, roguelike interface. Combat is based around the exploration of node networks that must be navigated until the relevant system cores are discovered and destroyed. A successful system hack will release the cargo into space for collection.
It looks like there will be a variety of hacking targets, but at least one aspect of the feature will apply the mini-game to the excavation of archaeological sites. The older networks should offer up a different set of audio and visual cues for the hacker to interact with.
The dev blog update describes the new hacking mechanic as part of a push to tie hackers more closely to the EVE Online economy and the wider, in-game universe. As an MMO, CCP's EVE Online already offers its pilots a staggering, and sometimes intimidating, range of choices. The new hacking component looks like a restrained, compact, and accessible addition to the EVE experience.
Even as EVE's massive, player-generated story moves beyond the borders of the game itself, the new expansion has pointed towards changes to Starbases , the user interface, and the pilots' on-board scanning systems.
Morels: The Hunt 2, an intensely chill game about gathering mushrooms and taking pictures of animals, is my unexpected new obsession
Dwarf Fortress's graphical adventure mode launches today, includes extremely Dwarf Fortress touches like '186 animal people portraits' and a unique sound effect for walking on soap
