New NPC race revealed for EVE

By Oli Welsh Published 30 January, 2009

Sleepers will need team effort to take on.

More details of EVE Online's imminent Apocrypha expansion have emerged from a developer blog - this time of a new, much tougher breed of NPC opponent to be found in the new unexplored space.

The Sleepers will be the source of the components for the production of the new Tech 3 modular ships. But they will also provide something developer CCP feels EVE is lacking - stiff NPC opposition that requires co-ordinated team play.

"More often than not, PVE interactions in EVE are quite limited, merely consisting of watching the NPC explode after a few volleys," said the CCP staffer Ytterbium in the post. "We are not satisfied with that. We want to offer our players true PVE challenge, requiring real team effort and proper gang coordination."

The Sleepers will fulfil that role by being "radically different from the regular pirate factions you are used to", and have attributes comparable to those of players, meaning they "require variations of PVP fits to engage". Much more advanced AI is also promised.

Plenty more on Apocrypha and the EVE universe in general at the EVE Online gamepage.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (9) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • zedzee #1 3 years ago

    Is it just me or is this the year where AI moves up a gear in games?

    I read something about KZ2's AI being "clever" and now this...

  • DFawkes #2 3 years ago

    I hope so, some games have no AI at all. Gran Turismo, I'm, looking at you (whole series so far).

    But the AI in recent games has been of a generally high standard, and to me having enemies act smart is one of the best bits of this gen.

    I really wish they'd stop doing Eve stories though, I can't afford to re-sub but every story has me wanting to play.

  • Velios #3 3 years ago

    M.CORP IS GONNA BE ALL OVER THIS SHIT!

  • DFawkes #4 3 years ago

    You know what? I'm fed up of your hijacking these comments threads with you Corp ads, regardless of how large, well regarded, and generally nice when I've seen members jetting about.

    So I'm putting you all on my List of Enemies, and shall endevour to take you all down with my Titan!*

    *If List of Enemies means List of M.Corp members, take you all down means run away from, and titan means rookie frigate.

  • Velios #5 3 years ago

    :) sorry for any inconvenience caused. Please continue to enjoy your EG experience.

  • DFawkes #6 3 years ago

    Now I can't go back to Eve because I'm afraid of you Velios. I can see me logging back in, exiting the base in Couster, and having 20 M.Corp ships all message "Take us out, will you?" before blowing me into tiny pieces.

    Plus these threads would feel empty without some M.Corp pimping. Never give up :) Though I'm not joining.

  • Velios #7 3 years ago

    Stealth recon dispatched to Couster... Dreads on standby.

    Seriously though, this patch sounds like it's going to be great, can't wait for it! M.Corp is also signing up for the JumpGate Guild beta test, that looks awesome too...

  • Spekingur #8 3 years ago

    DFawkes, didn't you hear? You can now disguise your ship! Depending on skills you can disguise as an asteroid, a moon, a planet, a sun and a black hole (skill level 5, training takes almost 12 months with no learning skills). ZOMG!

  • DFawkes #9 3 years ago

    Ha! I shall foil enemies by pretending to be a floating space rock! Plus I've upped most of my Learning skills, I reckon it'll only take 11 months! I just have to subscribe for almost a year without leaving the station...

    There's a flaw somewhere in that plan.