Eve Online graphics update aims to immerse new players

pcgamesn.com:

Now nearing its 20th anniversary, free-to-play space MMORPG Eve Online is turning over a new leaf with the launch of Eve Evolved, a broad initiative aimed at improving core elements of the play experience. The latest Eve Online update begins this transformation, developer CCP Games says, and a big part of what’s new in this patch is aimed at appealing to new players – and at softening Eve’s decades-long reputation for being a difficult game to get into.

When you start a new pilot – a ‘capsuleer,’ in Eve terminology – your first move is generally to start taking jobs from several beginner NPC career agents. Each one provides a string of missions designed to introduce Eve’s various career paths. Agents will show new players the ropes when it comes to being an enforcer, industrialist, or explorer, with several solo missions to complete that take place in instanced single-player ‘dungeons’ in nearby space.

The Eve Evolved update introduces a stunning graphical overhaul to these areas, filling the once sparse sectors with forests of asteroids and swirls of cloudy particle matter. Space stations are ringed with dust, and the faraway nebulae are significantly crisper, thanks to a high-res remaster of these celestial bodies.

Here’s the trailer, which provides some nice before and after comparison shots:

Eve Evolved is more than a new lick of space paint and new asteroids, pretty as those are. The update also launches the AIR Career Program, which makes the onboarding process a bit more freeform while remaining informative. Rather than simply issuing linear strings of missions, the new AIR Career Program offers lists of various recommended activities based on which career path a new player has elected to explore. These will send