So is this the extent of wars, NPCs, the background simulation & persistence?

[Sacman]

Im sorry t say this guys, but this is exactly what all the star citizen fans have been saying all along. I like ED, but its true. we all know it.

Just enjoy ED until SC comes out

Not really engaging myself with SC atm ... but if i were FD two years ago i would had done it with the following priorities:


- Planetary landing as a really USP (Unique Selling Point)
- Walking around in ships and stations
- Only a few hundred star systems without procedural generation ... no one needs 400 billions of them!
- and all other nice things as they are now in ED!


That would have been my ED for 2014

 

[TheArtist]

Its so simple ... this 'background simulation' is not existing and OP describes exactly that fact.

Now that the cats out of the bag I would hope theres a proper singleplayer and mod support!
Theres so much fun stuff a modding comunity could do, but FD just cut it short. For what? Just for this so-called "background simulation"? Meh!

 

[patricio_z]

OP you are doing it wrong! You need MOAR imagination(TM)!

PS:I agree

 

[knowles2]

These kind of threads have been around since Gamma 1.00 - the game lacks a lot of depth and ALL the menus are text based with no Avatars or anything - its been discussed A LOT and i mean A LOT but FD just ignored it and did it their way.
!

I'm sure they haven't been ignoring it, they just haven't gotten around to adding it all in yet. Especially people on stations and avatars for key players. As for background simulation I hope continues to evolve over time.

 

[devastat]

Now that the cats out of the bag I would hope theres a proper singleplayer and mod support!
Theres so much fun stuff a modding comunity could do, but FD just cut it short. For what? Just for this so-called "background simulation"? Meh!

Yeah the mythical "background simulation". Whatever ED lacks in gameplay, it's in the background simulation.

 

[Stavro Mueller]

Not really engaging myself with SC atm ... but if i were FD two years ago i would had done it with the following priorities:


- Planetary landing as a really USP (Unique Selling Point)
- Walking around in ships and stations
- Only a few hundred star systems without procedural generation ... no one needs 400 billions of them!
- and all other nice things as they are now in ED!


That would have been my ED for 2014

Point 3 shows that you just miss the point entirely. It's meant to be in the real galaxy, except in the future. No space games try to do this. Except this one.

 

[Riedquat]

On exploring, once you've visited 5 systems you've seen it all. The planets might look a bit different but the mechanics are all the same. It doesn't matter that there are 300 billion systems in the game, new systems could be procedurally generated infinitely.

Once you pass the honeymoon, the only thing that keeps you playing the game is to grind your way to get the ship you want, after that the game becomes obsolete. There is absolutely nothing to manage in the game.

Imagination and immersion usually keeps me going for much longer!.

 

[Im_Lost]

On exploring, once you've visited 5 systems you've seen it all. The planets might look a bit different but the mechanics are all the same. It doesn't matter that there are 300 billion systems in the game, new systems could be procedurally generated infinitely.

Once you pass the honeymoon, the only thing that keeps you playing the game is to grind your way to get the ship you want, after that the game becomes obsolete. There is absolutely nothing to manage in the game.

That is how space is. Most of it looks the same because the laws of physics apply everywhere equally.

There are interesting things to find, but most of them are a long way from populated space.

 

[TheArtist]

Imagination and immersion usually keeps me going for much longer!.

I wonder if you could imagine that the game could have been so much more than the barebone it is now?

Im not saying that ED isnt nice, but I definatly wish for a more "reactive environment". The universe feels as dull and static as it was during Elite 2+3. Its as if Elite didnt really arrived in 2014.

Their "text adventure injections" dont really cut the cookie, hehe!

 

[ICDP]

ED at the moment is a series of mini games badly stitched together. I had hoped that by late beta FD would have made the transitions between the mini games much more seamless. They didn't and we now have random NPC at those horrible USS sites, they do nothing and go nowhere. In the original Frontier games assassinations were far better than the current dogs dinner we get in ED.

Frontier assassination.
Accept mission to assassinate someone. You would be told their name, their last known location, and their ultimate destination. You would fly to this last known location to get more info/clues as to their whereabouts. Or the target would be at a station in the system. You would even get a time of departure from station/system X and arrival time at station/system Y. So you could plan and set up an ambush.

ED assassination mission.
Accept mission to assassinate someone. You are told their name and the system(s) they were last seen. You then fly around to random USS sites until they magically appear, or some random NPC happens to be sitting in deep space with nothing better to do than say "hey I heard that badass pirate was at system X". Fly to system X and visit random USS sites until target magically show up.
No schedule for the target
No destination
No flight plan
No stalking
No ambush opportunities
They just simply exist as nothing but a target flying around those horrible random USS sites.

In the original Frontier you actually had to stalk your target, track him/her using hyperspace scanners, get him/her before they reached an actual destination. Set up an ambush etc. In ED assassinations (and indeed all combat missions) seem to consist of doing nothing but going to those horribly contrived USS things.

The OP is correct, everything seems so contrived and lacks immersion.

Tried exploring: Got bored
Tried trading: Meh
Tried bounty hunting/assassinations: Got sick of flying around random USS sites.
Tried doing faction missions: Got bored being a courier.

 

[Riedquat]

I wonder if you could imagine that the game could have been so much more than the barebone it is now?

Im not saying that ED isnt nice, but I definatly wish for a more "reactive environment". The universe feels as dull and static as it was during Elite 2+3. Its as if Elite didnt really arrived in 2014.

Their "text adventure injections" dont really cut the cookie, hehe!

Yes, but anyone purchasing computer games knows how it is these days, hardly anything is finished or bug-free , I knew pretty much what to expect.

The potential though is huge and I dont think it will take too long to get there.

 

[devastat]

Imagination and immersion usually keeps me going for much longer!.

I always thought that visually gorgeous games with obsessive amounts of attention put on small details brings immersion into games. Imagination comes from a rich lore and a story that is molded by player decisions, both which Elite unfortunately doesn't have.

 

[devastat]

Yes, but anyone purchasing computer games knows how it is these days, hardly anything is finished or bug-free , I knew pretty much what to expect.

The potential though is huge and I dont think it will take too long to get there.

I think that the potential is there, but it would take another year or two to get there. Secondly, is Frontier Development willing to go there, or are they focusing on finishing the Expansions and considering it done?

 

[Riedquat]

You know, if it was anyone other than David Braben leading this, then I wouldnt have half as much faith in the company as I do now.

Agreed it needs work, but it wont take as long as a year, I'd wager money on that.

 

[Hypermaniak]

ED at the moment is a series of mini games badly stitched together. I had hoped that by late beta FD would have made the transitions between the mini games much more seamless. They didn't and we now have random NPC at those horrible USS sites, they do nothing and go nowhere. In the original Frontier games assassinations were far better than the current dogs dinner we get in ED.

Frontier assassination.
Accept mission to assassinate someone. You would be told their name, their last known location, and their ultimate destination. You would fly to this last known location to get more info/clues as to their whereabouts. Or the target would be at a station in the system. You would even get a time of departure from station/system X and arrival time at station/system Y. So you could plan and set up an ambush.

ED assassination mission.
Accept mission to assassinate someone. You are told their name and the system(s) they were last seen. You then fly around to random USS sites until they magically appear, or some random NPC happens to be sitting in deep space with nothing better to do than say "hey I heard that badass pirate was at system X". Fly to system X and visit random USS sites until target magically show up.
No schedule for the target
No destination
No flight plan
No stalking
No ambush opportunities
They just simply exist as nothing but a target flying around those horrible random USS sites.

In the original Frontier you actually had to stalk your target, track him/her using hyperspace scanners, get him/her before they reached an actual destination. Set up an ambush etc. In ED assassinations (and indeed all combat missions) seem to consist of doing nothing but going to those horribly contrived USS things.

The OP is correct, everything seems so contrived and lacks immersion.

Tried exploring: Got bored
Tried trading: Meh
Tried bounty hunting/assassinations: Got sick of flying around random USS sites.
Tried doing faction missions: Got bored being a courier.

That is extremely well put, have some Rep. Its sad to read the truth

 

[Echostatic]

If you want to see a really deep and immersive simulation, look at Dwarf Fortress. Civilizations arise, form alliances, go to war over things like trade disputes and moral issues, governments fall, settlements grow and spread, armies clash, etc. and everything is tracked. All historical figures are real, actual people. Goods are actually produced and traded. Cities prosper based on these things. The depth is *unreal*. And it is all being done by two guys.

Granted they have been working on it for years and years, but still. Their their sim has so much more depth, and I think it should be looked to for inspiration.

 

[Sallen]

If you want to see a really deep and immersive simulation, look at Dwarf Fortress. Civilizations arise, form alliances, go to war over things like trade disputes and moral issues, governments fall, settlements grow and spread, armies clash, etc. and everything is tracked. All historical figures are real, actual people. Goods are actually produced and traded. Cities prosper based on these things. The depth is *unreal*. And it is all being done by two guys.

Granted they have been working on it for years and years, but still. Their their sim has so much more depth, and I think it should be looked to for inspiration.

I love Dwarf Fortress. It's been 12 years in development (plus a number of years before it went public).
You can't compare. It's like telling a 12 year old boy he's not half the man his father is. Makes no sense.

At this point we simply don't know where this is headed. One can only hope.

 

[JimmySav]

why should you be able to kill a super important NPC???

YOU cant be killed as your pod saves you, so you think a super important NPC would be vulnerable?

They would have clones/life pods, blah blah. As for faction content/stories/missions, that will all be roled out as the game progresses I am sure....

 

[Echostatic]

I love Dwarf Fortress. It's been 12 years in development (plus a number of years before it went public).
You can't compare. It's like telling a 12 year old boy he's not half the man his father is. Makes no sense.

At this point we simply don't know where this is headed. One can only hope.

Thats why I admitted that they have been working on it for years and years. They've had a big head start. On the flip side, they haven't had anywhere near the manpower or funding. That's also why I said I think they should look to DF for inspiration, they've had a long time to develop their simulator and have some good ideas there.

 

[Johnny Spaceboots]

I love Dwarf Fortress. It's been 12 years in development (plus a number of years before it went public).
You can't compare. It's like telling a 12 year old boy he's not half the man his father is. Makes no sense.

At this point we simply don't know where this is headed. One can only hope.

Granted, DF had a much, much smaller team which is an unavoidable bottleneck. I'm fine with waiting, but they should seriously try to approach that level of depth instead of what we have now.

why should you be able to kill a super important NPC???

YOU cant be killed as your pod saves you, so you think a super important NPC would be vulnerable?

They would have clones/life pods, blah blah. As for faction content/stories/missions, that will all be roled out as the game progresses I am sure....

Because it would be fun. Disregarding the obvious lore allowances they have to use as a way to justify the players respawn mechanic, "killing" anybody loses its significance when everybody is immortal.