Do you care about the about the Background Simulation

[nightwraith]

The way it is currently implemented, no. It is poorly done today, IMO. Honestly, it could be switched off, all numbers/prices/factions stay the same and most people wouldn't notice.

That wouldn't be the direction it needs to go though. Not unless they hand the economy and galaxy over to the players to run.

 

[cothek]

Very important to me as well...

 

[_Flin_]

Very important. Havent played much else since release.

 

[gingermegs]

Very important. Havent played much else since release.

This is a general snapshot but it would seem that more than the player base have a very important interest in the background sim, yet the devs dont seem to have tweaked we expect to work as expected. And to be deep and if they need help hire some programmers from paradox interactive and it will be good in no time flat

 

[Soda Popinski]

i would have to disagree that this would make or break a game. for me(personal opinion) i really care about ship interiors, planetary landings, station interiors. all those stuff i care more about atm then "background simulation" probably when all that stuff comes out then i would care more but as of now if they added background simulation it wouldnt change the fact that there is only 15 ships, a few variations to the stations. far as im concerned i dont really care until more features are added to the game that i could really immerse myself with.
again all personal opinions.

I think that's one of the great things about this game. You can play it your way. If your way doesn't really involved the background simulator, so be it.

The way it is currently implemented, no. It is poorly done today, IMO. Honestly, it could be switched off, all numbers/prices/factions stay the same and most people wouldn't notice.

Maybe I'm sensitive to these things, but it seems pretty obvious when I'm at a small station, buy 1/3 the Palladium in a Type 6, and see the price go up noticeably, next time I stop in. Really takes a bit out of my profits.

Yes it's very important. Unfortunately, what's presently in place is so wretchedly bad that it actually needs to be totally rebuilt from the ground up, and we all know that isn't going to happen.

Seems a bit reactionary to me. I would hold judgement until the bugs are worked out and the system is working as designed. At this point, it doesn't appear to be.

You mean they broke trading? I can't say that ruining the chance for many traders to make decent profits is something I would call a "fix" or "making something better".

I would, however, very much welcome a fix for the currently broken and extremely erratic supply/demand mechanic.

So yes.... the background simulation (and FD breaking it) has had a huge impact on my fun in the game, and it is very important to me that they get it right. Preferrably next time they update it. But I would also settle for "eventually".

I'd say it was much more broken before with never ending supplies. Fixing that would of course make prices fluctuate ("erraticly" even). Seems to work as intended, but makes players work harder and have to adapt. Not as many cash cows.

Anyways, thanks for weighing in folks.

 

[Devil's Refugee]

Yes. And it needs a complete overhaul because it doesn't simulate anything, and having to cajole the Devs to inject events or react to situations you've spent months working on is ludicrous.

its been posted before but this blog post (lengthy) nails a lot of it. What you do has no real meaning in ED. Yes, space is vast and you are insignificant but when the background simulator makes no sense then it's working against you always.

https://anttiilomaki.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/elite-dangerous-or-endangered/

 

[Pibbles]

I think it's pivotal to making ED unique and alive. Without this imbuing the game with a feeling of life, it's just an arcade shooter IMO.

 

[Jane Turner]

I'd hazard a guess that there is a good mapping of people who don't care about the background simulation to people who will get bored of playing ED. For me its the most important thing by far and yes it would be a whole lot better if it was working better. Sorting out trade was a start... now sort out the influence/civil war dynamic.

What could be more important than creating and supporting faction expansion, stimulating then fighting in Civil Wars to take over new systems?

 

[AtheosisX]

dude unless you know how game development works, then dont be commenting things like "it needs to be re built form the ground up"
i mean it just sounds like youre hating just to hate.
i'm very sure they will flesh out and tone down the background simulation over time. but to rebuild it from the ground up is like punching a hole in the wall because it has a stain.

I know that it's fundamentally flawed in ways tha can't just be fixed with minor changes. That's what I know. Here let's break it down:

1) Commodities have no actual use and are nothing more than arbitrary numbers. They are not used to build anything or consumed by actual simulated people, and therefore are not part of an actual economy. Supply and demand is purely arbitrary in this game and any fluctuation is the result of RNG or other empty mechanism rather than any economic activity.

2) Most commodities have no value to traders because there is an absurdly high supply of precious metals and other high value commodities allowing traders to fill their holds only with the highest value goods. This is nonsensical and with any kind of actual simulation it simply would not happen. The quantities of high price commodities actually preclude them from being in high priced due to the principal of supply and demand. Unfortunately supply and demand do not exist in this game in any way.

3) Rare commodities make no sense as their production rate would seem to indicate that their value should be high even in nearby star systems. Expensive champagne from France is still expensive in Germany and Italy because it is a low supply item. Again this game's supply and demand design is wholly nonsensical.

4) Exploration data does not seem to have any use presently so again it's values are arbitrary.

5) Smuggling is not more profitable than regular trading which makes no sense. Illegal goods like narcotics should be extremely profitable. Once again this shows a lack of proper supply and demand design.

6) Ships and modules are not produced by anyone and are not produced from any commodities. They simply appear as if by magic and cost the same exact amount no matter where you go. They are completely divorced from any economic model. This makes zero sense.


And that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. It's such a mess and so completely nonsensical in its design, that I feel confident in saying it needs to be redesigned from the ground up. It's never going to happen, but it should.

 

[Stein]

I don't care much about the background sim. Why? It doesn't affect me, and I can't affect it. Why should I care what faction controls this and that system. I don't feel any difference between them. They're just random names with a few random lines of text to them.
I would like a heavily revised commodity system though. It feels like such a waste when scrolling down through all the numerous, utterly useless commodities - so much missed potential gameplay.

 

[Ytheleus]

It's more of a priority for me than anything else in the game. If the sim was working, Wings 1.2 would matter more since it would generate many more reasons for player collaboration. It is the depth that so many people say is missing at the moment.

I think there's some evidence devs are really struggling to fix the code they have, so suggestions they tear it up, redesign and try again aren't completely mad (I said something like that yesterday and I think it's defensible in theory), though obviously that's hellish expensive, disruptive, time consuming and an absolute last resort. FD will have to balance the factors, players can't possibly know if it's a sensible plan. But it is critical to the future of the game that it works I believe.

I also believe it won't be possible to just casually focus resources on fixing it - this is a specialist AI thing. It's not something where you can hire a couple of graduates and say 'have at it', or lever in someone from the art department for a couple of weeks.

After Wings I hope they have a serious look at it with all options on the table, as our glorious leaders sometimes say.

 

[medwyn]

The background simulation is the most important part of the game. The engine itself around which the rest of the features are built. That's the core of the rule set transforming the digital codes into a game.
I'm pretty surprised it was left behind in the current state during development, looks like a poor decision.
The features we have under 1.1 and 1.2 should have been built on a sound and reliable background simulation to get a real meaning. Without that they are just hanging in the air.
I also do hope after 1.2 FD will fully focus on putting it right (it may need a major overhaul and it may take longer than a month though) so there'll be a good reason to come back to play in a really persistent universe.
Good luck! (They gonna need it!)

 

[Nahkahiiri]

Remember background simulation is not just markets or npc factions. Without milky way would be static. gives life to milky way. The whole game is a simulation of how galaxy works. It's a lot different than the usual MMOs out there. If you think this is a regular MMO, you should rethink. You are no hero, you don't save cities and kingdoms, you are just a regular person who creates his own story.

Keep in mind that there is no "guilds" in this game, but what if people could join minor factions which could be ED's "guilds". You can create a lot of PvP activity around that. And there is already PvP activity when some are supporting a minor faction and then there are some who are fighting for the other half...

So, my answer is background simulation is definately the single most important factor to keep me in the game. Without it we have a boring static galaxy which only interests for a short while...

 

[Titus Balls]

The background simulation IS the game, certainly the one sold to us.

The way I read it and saw it when I watched the videos, it was supposed to be like a cellar automata system that brought events in and out of existence and that one event could drive another nearby



Instead it's just this

 

[Talarin]

It's very important - and I hope that 1.3 really brings some substantial improvement to the feel that you're actually part of the environment you're working in.
.
We know missions are due an overhaul - I hope that's in the context of improvements to the sim.

 

[woodhouse]

It's very important - and I hope that 1.3 really brings some substantial improvement to the feel that you're actually part of the environment you're working in.
.
We know missions are due an overhaul - I hope that's in the context of improvements to the sim.

So, combined with what people are saying in threads about stutter and audio, it is safe to say that a majority wants 1.3 to be about improvement of existing features rather than introducing new features.
(And if a new release is done every month, I would add that it would be safe to do the same for 1.4).

 

[Ironwolves]

The only reason this game hold my interest is due to the backround mechanics and the effects on the universe the group i play wit that we can influence... without it its just another fly around and kill stuff game

 

[Moriarte]

The background simulation is the most important part of the game. The engine itself around which the rest of the features are built. That's the core of the rule set transforming the digital codes into a game.
I'm pretty surprised it was left behind in the current state during development, looks like a poor decision.
The features we have under 1.1 and 1.2 should have been built on a sound and reliable background simulation to get a real meaning. Without that they are just hanging in the air.
I also do hope after 1.2 FD will fully focus on putting it right (it may need a major overhaul and it may take longer than a month though) so there'll be a good reason to come back to play in a really persistent universe.
Good luck! (They gonna need it!)

Yeah, personally, I'd exchange all large ships and a good chunk of graphics and sound for the working simulator. Not only working, but taken to the next level with multiple legs of incentives/rewards as you "progress" your faction of choice through different states and affect their influence weight to achieve desired effects. It doesn't have to be about conquering the world, i.e. spreading one faction of choice throughout galaxy, no no, that's a bit dull of an aim. Many tried this one in real life, but either got bored or died before accomplishing their goal. Something more subtle and refined - certain economic incentives, rare modules an goods making temporary appearance after respective "states" are triggered, good payoffs and other incentives for war veterans if the war was won. Awards & Medals. Things like that.

On the other hand, wings are very important too - they will give something to do, while the simulation gets fixed. Flying with friends, fighting high value targets, should be engaging and profitable. Certainly, to me, that sounds more entertaining than any other feature currently present.

 

[EdzUp]

Personally I would make E: D a FFE that's upto date with all the ships etc available then concentrate on behind the scenes stuff, why do we need 'Bertie Roostas subversive team' to become a major power in x system. Big powers should intervene when minor groups rise to power and throw a system in anarchy.

We need a stable game to play where we all get a great experience not failed interdictions, exploding ships etc. Once the game is stable and we can all play it fine then we can destabilise the star systems with our actions.

 

[Jex =TE=]

The 'background simulation' should be wrenched out of the game like a bad tooth and rebuilt from scratch. It's an overly complicated and contrived load of browser style mmo rubbish.

Falcon 4.0 could generate dynamic missions and fly them in real time with AI, FSX can handle thousands of realtime AI aircraft, Stronghold Crusader can generate a beautiful, living, complex, reactive environment, ED is like flying around inside a dodgy, flaky database built by a farmyard simpleton.

OOoh Falcon 4.0 - probably the greatest game ever made!

something like 30,000 AI units all fighting each other on a Pentium 486 on land, sea and in the air. Never knowing quite what each mission would bring you because the campaign was dynamic not to mention the thousands of other objects across the map you could blow up in a persistent war that would play itself if you let it.

We want a background sim but one that works.