David Braben will answer your questions at 4PM GMT/UTC

[Steve50]

David, I'm a huge fan of yours (have been since 84) Can you tell us that you'll have some backup plans for allowing us to play the game in some form when/if one day the servers close? Thank you and thanks for 1000's of hours of entertainment and joy over the years.

 

[DoctorDanny]

Hi David,


Will we get a route-planner for long range travel in the release version?

 

[bend_r]

Hello David,

when will we see passenger cabins and related missions?

Also, will there be FE:2 / FFE like BBS Contacts where you can 'talk' to your client, demand more information and/or demand more money?

thanks and see you out there
Commander Benderson

 

[ThatFuzzyTiger]

Right. I'll ask it all out.

1) What is FDEV's policy on refunds for those who are no longer able to receive a DRM-free copy of the game via kickstarter, or an offline copy of the game as stated by yourself via an AMA through reddit, will you honour refunds based on the fact that you've decided to withdraw a significant feature of the game at the last moment, one that is important to a large swathe of the older age demographic, and one that will be sorely missed?

2) At what point was the design decision made to enforce the concept of a "thin" client that only handles the most basic elements whilst offloading the simulation to a remote server (much like glassbox)?

3) Why was this not communicated to the community earlier and with more clarity?

4) What technical reasons prevent you from making a reduced galaxy with randomised seeding for an "offline" version of Elite Dangerous that would permit offline play that would satisfy the people who would desire an offline version?

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

I have been saving up for a long time to get a 4k monitor to play ED on...then the DK2 came out, and stopped my plan dead in it's tracks.
The immersion from playing ED with a DK2 is just amazing. Breath taking.
What is your screen of choice? 4k or Dk2?

No Krait Assault Craft with teeth?

 

[David Braben]

How much of a technical challenge do you think planetary landings will be, in comparison to the technical challenges of the game so far developed?

The landings themselves are not the technical issue, it is the vast size of planets, and the prodigious amount of content required to make them interesting. We can generate the landscapes procedurally, but you need interesting things there to make them compelling.

 

[Dodgey]

Dear David,

Are persistent NPC's still planned? Will we be able to interact with them? Will you be adding more interesting Missions?

 

[ianf2k14]

Hello FD PR and legal team, can you answer the earlier questions, "As someone who bought the beta based solely on the promise of offline play like the original Elite, will I receive a refund and how do I go about instigating this?"

 

[Tinman]

This one I do agree with - Hopefully more direct talk in the future, maybe even via more regular blogs ala CCP?

Indeed...I would love some more in depth blogs from individual devs themselves about specific features at times!

 

[Denidil]

I would like to second the question asking what additional ships we can expect by Dec 16th.

 

[CMDR M Kozak]

Would it be possible, that other alien races could appear (over time) - other than ofcourse the mysterious Thargoids?
It is after all a vast galaxy, so perhaps a "non space capable" race or two could show up?... perhaps for the empire to enslave?

Thanks for taking your time, and thanks for creating this amazing game.

-Morten

 

[Listeri69]

will the gamma release have significantly more content than we have presently within Beta 3? and if so has there been anything that has been hard to achieve?

 

[Hanni79]

Greetings Mr. Braben,

I would like to ask you, what is your most-wanted feature you would like to implement which isn't already there ?
Or, in case you can't pinpoint one, what would be your top three features ?

With best regards,
Hanni

 

[CmdrPSB]

Given the current environment feels toxic and the current issue around offline seems to have spiralled wildly out of control, will you be looking to respond far more quickly to concerns raised or will the pace always be necessarily limited by the nature of Frontier being a plc and needing to vet statements carefully?

 

[Winterwalker]

Good to see you on the forums again Commander Braben ..

Break a leg with the coming launch ..

Would you like a free mission patch? ;D

 

[Ulysses_W]

Hi David,

When can we expect work to start on Elite V?

 

[EidLeWeise]

Hello David,

Do you feel obliged to deliver an offline mode given that the idea was clearly used during the Kickstarter to generate some of money needed to get Elite: Dangerous off the ground?

Thanks

Is the decision on the lack of offline mode final or you might re-evaluate this in the near (let's say up to a year from release) future?

I guess this is your answer guys...

When developing a game there are endless decisions to be made. The current "Offline" issues are a case in point. We make these decisions to get the best end result - frequently leaving ideas on the proverbial cutting room floor. Sometimes these decisions are hard ones.

 

[Trueman832]

Hi David,
With the new exclusion of offline mode, should we consider the possibility that planetary landings could suffer the same fate?
Thanks, and great job so far!
Geoff

 

[Beatz0121]

Will there ever be an area on interface we can write down notes? Also will we ever be able to change the color of our ships interior lights? I like BLUE!

 

[David Braben]

Hello David I'm a backer from Mexico City,

Will be there major changes between GAMMA and Final, or Gamma will be an "add features - testing - stability" excercise until Final arrives?

Cheers

Gamma will mostly (!) be about stability, compatibility and performance, not features, but there are more features to come from now...