Elite Dangerous Movie Play™

NOT TO BE MERGED – THERE ARE NO MOVIE PLAY THREADS

So I have been trying to figure out a way in which players can make films, scenes or just take selfies in Elite Dangerous, Without upsetting anyone or getting into bun fights over immersion or cheating.

My solution is to take external views OUT of the game, so if you are playing Elite Dangerous ‘the game’ you will NOT be able to have an external view. END OF – Or until such time as FD decide to put views in the game.

So how can you view your ship and make movies then you ask?

Well you add Movie Play

Definition of ‘Movie Play’ – Think of the way beta 1.1 works (Kinda)
Firstly let me very quickly say that this is only using what has already been developed and will have the lowest of priority for any support! With that Said...
Movie Play Will...
  • Not allow you to earn rank
  • Not allow you to earn credits
  • Not allow you to earn exploration data
  • Not allow you to sell anything
  • Not allow you to buy anything
  • Not allow you to effect any ‘Game Mode’ in any shape or form
  • Allow you external views
  • Only allow you to use what you already own
  • Allow you to invite friends to make movies in the same way as Group Play
  • Allow you to film unconnected to Game mode

Definition of ‘Game Mode’
Open/Group/Solo

So in a nutshell then.
Movie mode allows you to take your assets at your current location/system into a private group that has no effect on you progress or stats. It could well be tacked onto training.
In this mode you can fool around, film, take selfies, use external views just like the Dev team do for promo videos.
If you go pop, you just re-spawn at the main star Nav point.

All this enables players to look at their ships, skins, take photos and record videos, without any impact on their progress or on the ‘real galaxy’

I’ll end by repeating that fact that this Movie tool will come last in terms of support.
Options

Open Play
Private Group
Solo
Movie - :D

Dare I say... Thoughts?

Nutter
 
I like the idea of being able to watch and save a replay of your last x minutes of play from the viewpoint of a dynamic 3rd person camera.

You can't use it whilst in play. You'd had to have saved and exited or be docked.

Capturing your exploits from 3rd person PoV is I think what is most sought after
 
On a related topic, I'd really love to see a demorecord function in ED

Me too but alas that would mean extra dev - nice to have later though! Would make vids much easier and more powerful - imagine plotting a cam route!
 
Me too but alas that would mean extra dev - nice to have later though! Would make vids much easier and more powerful - imagine plotting a cam route!

Oh, it's a total pipe dream. I was pressuring the APB devs about it for ages back in the day too - it's just too niche a desire to justify the dev time. Which is a shame, because it'd really ramp up the quality of the videos we could put out there. and if you're trying to get large scale community events going (like me) it makes everything exponentially better! suddenly high-quality slow motion replays while the camera moves around the wreckage becomes a thing!
 
+1 Cmdr, and looks to be practical in terms of implementation, I guess its just going to be down to getting enough support for this mode too give some impetus for the Devs to look at it, and then see if it can be done, as part of the near future development path for ED. It certainly would be a great focus for promoting ED as the Machinima Community has the creative will to make great content, Space Operas need not just be confined to "the force awakens", I could see also see Kate Russell being able to expand on her "Mostly Harmless" journey...


Edited to add:

@Nutter ;) could you perhaps asks the Mods to copy this thread into the "Dangerous Suggestions" and perhaps sticky it, lets face it so many decent suggestion threads just get lost as the "flamewar troll and pityparty threads push so much more positive and worthwhile stuff off, new posts Page One...
 
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+1 Cmdr, and looks to be practical in terms of implementation, I guess its just going to be down to getting enough support for this mode too give some impetus for the Devs to look at it, and then see if it can be done, as part of the near future development path for ED. It certainly would be a great focus for promoting ED as the Machinima Community has the creative will to make great content, Space Operas need not just be confined to "the force awakens", I could see also see Kate Russell being able to expand on her "Mostly Harmless" journey...

Indeed! - I have a green screen ;)
 
I love the idea myself (as a maker of ingame movies). However, I don't think Frontier would currently see it as much of a priority when the general community is clammering for a large variety of major updates that would improve the whole game experience.

Still, if they happened to implement such a thing, I would personally love it. I've been wanting to do a good Elite movie for some time, but limited to cockpit view loses something...
 
yea but it wont happend for some reason... so his alternative is really good.

I agree it's the seed of a good idea but a little convoluted, however it reminds me of racing games, you can replay and choose different cameras then. No need for special groups etc.

Perhaps this should be considered ? I just like the idea of having an exterior view though I like the simple pleasures in life :)
 
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This is a great idea, I'd much rather a separate mode for external views rather than adding external view to the other game modes.
 
Just make a replay option where you can control the camera, rewind, etc... like most car games have, problem solved.
 
Just make a replay option where you can control the camera, rewind, etc... like most car games have, problem solved.

Yes, but a lot of players don't want it in the game - for what ever reason - including some at FD - which is why my solution takes it out of the game, which kinda NULLS any counter arguments regarding game play and so forth.
 
I'm currently doing this with some success, using two accounts.

The low spec machine is used for flying the subject and the high spec, for recording the action (currently using ShadowPlay).

Getting some friends together online, using group play, and emulating the look through the sidewinder ceiling trick that i cribbed from Kornelius, I switch off the HUD, and Orbit Lines.

It takes a fair bit of practice to get the hang of flying 90 degrees off front and centre (I tried remapping the controls, but then muscle memory made landing..... interesting) but once you have it, it's quite effective.

Upgrade the sidey into silly territory with thrusters and strip out everything else so you can keep up with some of the bigger ships, but be aware that sudden changes in direction will cause the cockpit canopy frame to slide into view as the game applies the physics effects.

This isn't to diminish Nutter's proposal, just demonstrate that it currently can be done with some success.

YMMV, IANA Cinematographer, etc, etc
 
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