Exploring Nia

Perpetuum

Thanks to Scopique I had my interest piqued about Perpetuum a few weeks ago, but I didn’t give it very much more thought until the tail end of their open beta. I decided with early access happening just two days away I’d avoid playing the beta at all. One of the main factors for my decision was the price tag, you really can’t go wrong with 37 days of game play for $10 – no box or game to purchase, just the monthly fee.

The game itself is sci-fi, mech to be more specific. You may have heard it’s like EVE but on a planet, which is very true. The UI is composed of a lot of windows and screens and various boxes that can all be re-sized and moved around to your liking. There are various paths you can chose to go down (much like EVE) like PvP, PvE, and invention / production. I’ve only spent a few hours in game so far, doing tutorials, but it’s been fun.

The learning curve is quite steep so I have been taking my time with the tutorial. It took me three attempts to finally ‘get’ EVE after all, and I expect this will be much the same, especially since the genre is not one I’m typically comfortable in.

I’ve decided to go along a crafting rout (for lack of better term) for my first attempt. I’ve done the tutorials for mining which requires me to head out with my little Arkhe (the beginner uh.. mech? I was given) and extract metals from the ground. What I do with those metals after I’ve extracted them I don’t have the faintest idea. I’m sure it will come with time. The game is pretty, and unique to me. I like that you earn your EP (basically training points) while off line, and put those towards skills. There is no queue for skills, and while the UI may seem very EVE-esc, the similarities stop.

Avatar Creations also did a great job with their promotions, as yesterday numerous bloggers were given free early access codes to use and give out. Since I had already purchased access I gave away the codes on twitter and other Nomadic Gamer writers. Creating a buzz is never a bad thing.

Ok so I haven’t delved into enough of the game to come to a good conclusion on it, but I AM having fun exploring something new, and I’m looking forward to posting future screen shots and articles on my progress here. For now, it’s back to the tutorial about terminals.

Happy gaming!