The reason why I have played less Elite is.. all the waiting all the time

[Lobstris]

Its realism , and even tho somtimes it can get a bit boring its the way I like it , it feels so real and never before has a game dared do that

Well, apart from all of those other pesky simulation games that fell out of favour in the '90s, 'cus they cost developers an arm and a leg, and nerds (like me) still moaned at them when things were modelled incorrectly . Ah, ramp starts from cold in Falcon 4, or waiting 3 minutes to fire a maverick as the gyros spun up, how I miss you. <sniff>.

 

[Pyro Steel]

As far as the blast shields go, you only have to wait for them if you enter the hanger. Go try this, land on a pad, then hit launch. The pad will drop, spin, come back up and launch you. You don't have to wait for the blast shields. And the only reason to enter the hanger is if you are outfitting your ship. If you are trading, refueling, repairs, or turning in vouchers you don't need to enter the hanger and don't have to wait for the blast shields to drop when you launch. Helps save time for us speed demons.

 

[dioogio]

As far as the blast shields go, you only have to wait for them if you enter the hanger. Go try this, land on a pad, then hit launch. The pad will drop, spin, come back up and launch you. You don't have to wait for the blast shields. And the only reason to enter the hanger is if you are outfitting your ship. If you are trading, refueling, repairs, or turning in vouchers you don't need to enter the hanger and don't have to wait for the blast shields to drop when you launch. Helps save time for us speed demons.

Not the ONLY reason. While you are occupying the pad no one else can use it, especially at outstations with limited pads... ref all the complaints on here about waiting time to dock.
You should always enter hanger unless you are just restocking on fuel/ammo or claiming bounties - and be quick about it.

 

[kiario]

Ok, as I read in the replies, most are OK with the many waiting sequences in the game.

However removing the SC countdowns and shortening the hyperspace sequence to 1 sec would make it greatly more slimlined in my opinion. And also not facing the bloody star everytime when you exit HS.

The waiting for mission related USS to show up is a separate game design issue that I hope will be replaced by a better system.

 

[dioogio]

Ok, as I read in the replies, most are OK with the many waiting sequences in the game.

However removing the SC countdowns and shortening the hyperspace sequence to 1 sec would make it greatly more slimlined in my opinion. And also not facing the bloody star everytime when you exit HS.

The waiting for mission related USS to show up is a separate game design issue that I hope will be replaced by a better system.

Just Throttle back as soon as you enter HS. When you equip yourself with a fuel scoop, if you haven't already, you will be glad it puts you straight in front of the sun.
Just accelerate gently until you reach your ideal charge/heat rate and throttle back. When done turn 180 and accelerate away. Actually saves time.

 

[Iskariot]

I would like the option to be able to launch without doing the about turn. I'm quite capable of doing a backflip off the pad.

Yes that would be cool. Perhaps inside a docking cylinder it would be considered too dangerous, but your suggestion would make perfect sense for outposts.

 

[DiAL033]

Elite is pushing an Experience-driven game.

Nice buzzwording.

Part of the experience is actually operating your vessel like you're in it. "Sim" doesn't fit in the pedantic usage of it, but it's more accurate than other monikers.

The point is: because it does not exist, putting "simulation" issues against wait times is invalid.

When you speed up the hangar sequence it can not break "simulation" as the hangar process is made up.
When you reduce the mass lock distance it can not break "simulation" as the whole mass lock thing is made up.
When you speed up the SC it can not break "simulation" as the super cruise is made up.

And most importantly: Whether a simulation involves boring and tedious bits is depending on what you simulate. A simulation of the fuel consumption of seaships is nowhere as exiting as the flight simulation of a f-16. And when you make up a world and want to "simulate" certain aspects of it, you can very well leave out the tedious and boring bits as there is no "reality" to limit you in your gameplay decisions.

 

[drwoo]

So.... you face the star because that's how you get to the system to begin with.... The charge time is there for a reason as well. It looks like you are looking for a shooter not a space sim. Might I suggest Afterburner II... it's a tad old, but has some excellent instant action.

 

[teaurn]

Is this another Instawin/Entitlement thread....?

/yawn

 

[cmdr kaotical]

i thought about that yesterday night while exploring, and you are right - there is plenty of waiting. and it gets annoying (my fav is the blastdoor...) BUT you have to consider that you're

1.) loading,connecting to the instances
2.) for the sake of realism it's just necessary
3.) it would be dull insta-hopping (everything gets dull after to many times, even if it's fast)

how to improve?

ignore blastdoor lock and let player start - get fined for reckless flying/ignoring security protocols. include landing gear as damageable part (since i figure there are some kind of clamps locking the landing gear to the deck)

i really like the idea of actually flying in hs. it would be optional, manouvering "minigame" like the interdiction, if you drop you're somewhere in deep space with 30sec-1min fsd cooldown. maybe that could be even further modified to deliberately drop at the "edge" of the system.

add a simple pong/pacman/space invaders to the board computer (yes i am serious!) to have distraction while flying to the 500kLs secondary star u want to scan.

make the galnet accessible (download news at station) -> the lore must be more included!

the planned 3rd person view will help (if possible while sc?)

i'd also like a system wide chat channel, it would help to find fellow cmdrs to fly with - also many cons and abuse.. so idk if that would be good to implement

 

[MayhemMike]

It is unfortunate that you feel like this, but I really enjoy these small things of the games, since there are way too many games out there where you can get instant gratification, and for me most of those games just feel pointless.
Immersion is the small semi realistic things in games, adding to the flavor of the game and my enjoyment. But I will gladly agree that now a days the amount of people wanting instant gratification is a much larger crowd then those that get gratification from more complicated and longer games. It is unfortunate, but I have to say that this doesn't mean Elite should change to fit that crowd, and I hope you understand and can accept that there are a lot of people that enjoy the game and everything about it even if you don't.

I once recorded myself doing some exploration and it turned out that within one hour I only needed to touch the joystick for a total of around 22 mins, the other 38 mins were just starring at fancy colors and waiting for timers with no user input needed at all.
That is a lot of down time and that has nothing to do with instant gratification. It's called player agency! Take EuroTruck Simulator, nobody would argue that this is one of the games that offers instant gratification and yet it constantly needs user inputs.
Leave your screen for 10 secs and you're off the road. Leave Elite for 10 secs and nobody will notice.

 

[Enride]

that I have gotten tired of all the waiting and monotomeus sequences in the game.

Waiting in starport turning on landing pad and decsending in garage. Why cant we access station menu while this sequence is running?
Waiting to get up to Surface again. Waiting for blast wall to be lowered.
Waiting to get out of mass lock till SS
Waiting 4 sec or more to enter SS and HS
Waiting in HS to load instance
Arriving at Star, waiting to turn ship around to avoid melting.
Waiting at SS exit to load Starport, nav Point etc
Waiting in SS travelling to reach dest. This can be huge waiting

There is far too much waiting and dead time. This shouls be slimlined more.
Imaging pressing HS and 2 sec later you are in a new system NOT facing the bloody star.

And lets not talk about all the waiting in missions USS...oh my.

Most of what you point out is actual gameplay. ED was never meant to be a fast paced instant action game, and the "wait" you have issues with is part of how the game is suppose to be played.
You have all the right to point out what you dont like, and Im not saying there isnt room for improvements (the "blast shields" who doesnt even fill a purpose is a really stupid feature for one) but dont expect the core of the gameplay to change.

Basically, ED is for those who enjoy "simulating" even the tedious bits of spacefaring.

 

[Wicro]

I would equate this to what I would classify as ‘good’ filmdirection. Take 2001 or the original Solaris as examples; the long, lingering camera shots just would not be acceptable in a modern film where fast cuts areseen as a way to engage the audience. I, personally applaud the approach takenby FD, but I can understand why others would find this a distraction.
Surely there are enough ‘hyper’ games out there to allow this niche?

 

[xondk]

Nice buzzwording.

The point is: because it does not exist, putting "simulation" issues against wait times is invalid.

When you speed up the hangar sequence it can not break "simulation" as the hangar process is made up.
When you reduce the mass lock distance it can not break "simulation" as the whole mass lock thing is made up.
When you speed up the SC it can not break "simulation" as the super cruise is made up.

And most importantly: Whether a simulation involves boring and tedious bits is depending on what you simulate. A simulation of the fuel consumption of seaships is nowhere as exiting as the flight simulation of a f-16. And when you make up a world and want to "simulate" certain aspects of it, you can very well leave out the tedious and boring bits as there is no "reality" to limit you in your gameplay decisions.

I am slightly confused, simulation does mean it simulates, whever if or if not the simulation is 100% realistic is another matter, and there are certain limits that are needed to be broken to make an actual game like this work, since currently we have no way of going faster then light, they invented a way to do so.

I do not understand what you mean it is made up? your ship needs to turn around so the hangar does that in a very neat way in my opinion, you would just rather it I don't know just blinked a quick sec and then you were turned around? really? that would suck if you ask me.
Mass lock distance? mass and gravity work along certain principles, why is it so bad that you are mass locked and can't supercruise before like..what..5-10? seconds have passed? really is that a problem? 5-10 seconds?
Supercruise needs to be faster? it is already very very fast, so as far as I can understand the only problem is that the "best" places, rares and such take a while to get to, you are saying you want to get to the place where you can buy RARE materials and such at favorable prices quicker? You feel it takes too long to earn money?

Here's my questions to you, what is it you want? how long 'should' it take in your mind? how long should it take to get enough money to buy everything ('complete the game'?) seriously?

 

[almostpilot]

that I have gotten tired of all the waiting and monotomeus sequences in the game.

Waiting in starport turning on landing pad and decsending in garage. Why cant we access station menu while this sequence is running?
Waiting to get up to Surface again. Waiting for blast wall to be lowered.
Waiting to get out of mass lock till SS
Waiting 4 sec or more to enter SS and HS
Waiting in HS to load instance
Arriving at Star, waiting to turn ship around to avoid melting.
Waiting at SS exit to load Starport, nav Point etc
Waiting in SS travelling to reach dest. This can be huge waiting

There is far too much waiting and dead time. This shouls be slimlined more.
Imaging pressing HS and 2 sec later you are in a new system NOT facing the bloody star.

And lets not talk about all the waiting in missions USS...oh my.

I might add:

Wait for Developers learn to provide an update without adding more bugs to the game.
Wait for the game have really better and more content.
Wait for the FD finally finish the game.

 

[vjek]

that I have gotten tired of all the waiting and monotomeus sequences in the game.

Waiting in starport turning on landing pad and decsending in garage. Why cant we access station menu while this sequence is running?
Waiting to get up to Surface again. Waiting for blast wall to be lowered.
Waiting to get out of mass lock till SS
Waiting 4 sec or more to enter SS and HS
Waiting in HS to load instance
Arriving at Star, waiting to turn ship around to avoid melting.
Waiting at SS exit to load Starport, nav Point etc
Waiting in SS travelling to reach dest. This can be huge waiting

There is far too much waiting and dead time. This shouls be slimlined more.
Imaging pressing HS and 2 sec later you are in a new system NOT facing the bloody star.

And lets not talk about all the waiting in missions USS...oh my.

Yeah, brought this up during Beta/Gamma.

Can't change the "charging" timer on fsd, either for supercruise, or hyperspace.
Can't change the 5,4,3,2,1 for hyperspace.
Can't change the surface scanning time (33seconds per planet)
Approaching a planet, slow, waiting. Leaving a planet, slower, more waiting.

ah well, at least I know what to do if I ever write my own game and have no content; make the player wait!

 

[xondk]

I might add:

Wait for Developers learn to provide an update without adding more bugs to the game.
Wait for the game have really better and more content.
Wait for the FD finally finish the game.

Wow, negativity overload, if you don't enjoy the game go play something else, I say this because there are a lot of people that ARE enjoying the game, and honestly people like you wanting to change the game to something you enjoy, I do believe those that dislike the game are an if very loud minority...and if you counter with "look at the many posts of complaints" remember at the very least 300000 people bought the game, and there are only 62k people on the forum, and out of ALL of those people, even if say 500 don't like the game, that is only 1%, and such a minority should not be allowed to ruin the game for the other 99%, why not just move along?

 

[flynnmichael81]

add a simple pong/pacman/space invaders to the board computer (yes i am serious!) to have distraction while flying to the 500kLs secondary star u want to scan.

Give this person a cookie! This is the single best idea I have seen suggested for game improvements. It reminds me of 'Invadaload' on the Commodore 64 where you got to play Space Invaders when the game was loading! I'd often be enjoying it so much I'd stop the tape deck just to play more.

*starts reminiscing about tape-decks and retro computers

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EDITED TO ADDRESS ISSUE: Waiting, for me, is all part of the experience of living in the year 3300. Its more akin to real-life that way - wait for kettle to boil, wait for windows to start (Thank heavens for ssd), wait for Firefox to load (how is it taking so long on super-speed fibre optic)... and so on! I can guess that its not other peoples taste but its mine, and its the developers. So please, stop trying to change it!

 

[GJ51]

hehe please expain. I dont understand anticipating while shutting my Eyes in HS.

Perhaps after you graduate from High School you won't be in such a hurry...

 

[Salvatory]

The only thing that kills me is that I was told the hyperspace/SC entry/exit were placeholders. Does sorta bore me to tears faster than anything, otherwise fine with most of it... The entry to suns being too close I don't quite get, fine with docking (possible never going to get bored of that)

I think fluidity in some of these gaps with some randomness wouldn't go amiss and hopefully it will come eventually once the bigger lumps of code are out the way!