Starship Scales

Epoch 3D will finally allow players to get to see some of their favorite starships up close. I am often asked about the sizes and scales of different ships. Here you can see a Rapier MK I along side a Hercules Frigate both ships are to scale. A Rapier is a light ship and is in fact longer than the Herc. The classification Light versus Medium is more about the ships armor, weapons and general performance than it is about physical size. The skeleton crew size of a Rapier is 3 while a Hercules is 8 and the Hercules will allow you install more advanced upgrades such as Military scanners and Hyperdrive engines.

Web Epoch Tutorial Video Part 1

XP626 has submitted a video tutorial on how to play web epoch.
More tutorials are in the works.

Showcase : Rapier Gunship MK I

The Rapier MK I is the first incarnation of the Rapier Gunship. Players from web Epoch will be familiar with the MK IV which has the two spinning mid section compartments which create artificial gravity for the crew. In Epoch 3D the Rapier is a Frigate class which is a sort of mid range size vessel. Primarily used by the Military some of these vessels often find their way into the hands of a small trading organization. As Epoch 3D will be set well be well before 2742 the Rapier MK I will be the only one available. It is our plan to develop newer versions of the ship as the game proceeds. The Rapier has a single forward energy weapon mount and a single forward torpedo mount. It has no turrets, rear, aft, port or starboard weapons mounts. All ships will come equipped with a Impulse drive and a Fusion drive. Impulse if for normal space flight and Fusion drives are for making in system jumps.

Epoch 3D Update

Check out this video of a Hercules using its Fusion drive to cross a star system in seconds.

I used Fraps to capture it. The quality is not great in the video but you get the idea. I'll try and figure out better ways of capturing in game footage.

New Web Epoch Targeting

I've added some code to the system screen in epoch that allows you select a set of ships and then click an enemy. These ships will then attack enemies of this class.

This will allow you interact with a battle in a quicker more stream lined way.

You no longer have to come away from the system report screen you can monitor your units health and now even set targeting.

The check boxes are not used for anything else so that may cause confusion, we'll see what players think.

Web Epoch on the iPad

I've made some very quick changes to the web epoch source code to make it more compatible with the ipad.

Removed the grey frame boarder that shows up.
Removed "Viewing Units for : Entire System" (This was part of an incomplete feature)
Added Code to make the iPad not turn Timestamps into hyperlinks.

Enjoy!

Showcase : Hercules Class Escort Frigate

Mainly used as light support for most fleets, the Hercules Class is renowned for its high speed and reliability. Needing very little maintenance the frigate can take a tremendous amount of punishment with very little adverse effect on its main systems. While not having the offensive capability of the Perceus Class Frigate it should never be overlooked by any fleet commander as its four 88mm Hydra Cannons are highly effective at taking out incoming torpedoes before they hit any capital ships. -- Taken from its Web Epoch Tech Tree Entry

The 'Herc' as its also known has become the mascot of the Epoch universe. Its the ship every one likes to use. In Epoch 3D it will be highly used by the military authorities for chasing down pirates and smugglers. If players manage to build up enough credits they can buy and pilot their own Herc, and try it out first hand. The ship is included in the first release of Epoch 3D, the image above is in fact a screenshot. In Epoch 3D the weapon systems will be configurable so it won't necessary have Hydra cannons. It also has a rear energy weapon mount for shooting down pursuing ships. Over the course of the next few months will we show case other aspects of Epoch 3D before it goes live. Feel free to comment!