Life is cheap in 3301. However, docking space is expensive.
What takes you out of the game?
- Thread starter CMDR Runcible Shaw
- Start date
So, I'm an American and had never heard about Elite until it was featured on an episode of Naked Scientists. Space science is both my hobby and my job and I was really interested after hearing about a 1:1 scale Milky Way Galaxy that you could actually travel end to end in a ship. For the most part I really like the game and have enjoyed exploring and ship combat, but there are a few things that take me out of the game and ruins the verisimilitude:
- Flying at 500 times the speed of light and not experiencing time dilation (I know this would be impossible to implement, but it still bothers me when I think about it) Sorry to be pedantic, but you're not flying at any multiple of the speed of light- your FSD and warp drive are Alcubierre drives. You're riding a localised thrust vector in space time, meaning you're not actually moving at all, spacetime is!
- Pirates repeating the same dialogue over and over again Yep, and why don't they speak? Get a bunch of peeps with different accents to read lots of random dialogue, (like the orbital's announcers), add some distortion and static, job done, immersion and lulz intensified...
- Pirate names that sound like forum handles Hadn't really noticed until you mentioned it...but don't CMDR Pirates use names like forum handles, too?
- The lack of dynamic neutron stars with circumstellar disks and polar jets (although I just found out about randomly generated planetary nebula which is cool) Yeah, accretion discs around more mundane objects would be kinda nice too.
- The drop off in white dwarf density outside of the "bubble". Makes no sense.
- How close together asteroids are in belts. In a belt like the one around Sol you'd be lucky to see two asteroids close enough together to see one from the other. Gameplay? Real asteroid belts wouldn't be nearly as much fun.
- I was going to say the HUD with all the different colored triangles, but my canopy partially blew out the other day and you could only see the ship targeting triangles on the parts that weren't blown out. Pretty cool. Not just me, then!
So I'd really like to hear what ruins the "reality" of the game for you when you're playing it. I like hearing about how the sim doesn't match up with the science, but it doesn't have to be about science.
Lol- that's my favourite bit! I am a bit of a grimdark fan, though...
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Graphical glitches.
I don't need hi res or uber graphics, that's not important in any game (in my opinion) what is important is immersion and therefor graphical stability, any glitch takes you out of that immersion. I played elite in 84 and it was totally immersive.
I don't need hi res or uber graphics, that's not important in any game (in my opinion) what is important is immersion and therefor graphical stability, any glitch takes you out of that immersion. I played elite in 84 and it was totally immersive.
Have some rep for mentioning The Naked Scientists.
For those not in the know, it is fabulous Cambridge-centric science show and podcast - well worth an hour of anyone's time! Look them up, I doubt you'll regret it.
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AAAAArrrrggghhh.
That is NOT a lore reason. It is simply a proxy for a PC. If some of the better NPCs (those Elite guys) were in the pilots federation, and PCs did not immediately join when they flexed their credit cards, then THAT would be a lore reason.
See, now that makes it more real to me.
People in the Armed services use nick names as handles, if you watch some of the TV police shows the constables on the shows have nick names they use (and I can confirm that happens in real life).
Also, go to a marina and all the ships will have names - should people need to communicate at see, they'll use the ship name to help identify the vessel. And have you seen what some ships are actually called
I even have friends who in real life call me "Jock" - which is twice as funny due to people thinking I'm Scottish being called that, then finding out I'm Irish is great, the confusion is awesome
The l33t 5p34k names however do annoy me, but hey - each to their own I guess
Very simple answer "My Wife" and I quote "Not playing that again are you!" as I look around and see her playing Sims 4 (Her gaming addiction).
If I remember correctly, the one who was working on A.I. Sarah Jane Avery, said if they let her loose, we wouldn't have a chance. But FD is more concerned with playable game play. Having realistic AI who can take down player newbies really quick and have a decent chance of taking down veterans isn't conducive to sales.
Mostly, graphic oddities. Like when dropping out of SC, everything disappears, then pops back into existence. Arg!!! Or rings/RES, which look really sparse and regular now, and full of featureless malteser-like rocks. Maybe I just need a better PC!
The mission system, and how missions are presented, in walls of text presented as faux-conversations. And being offered multiple identical missions at the same time, while being told they're special/unique/rare etc.
And being a mid-rank officer in both the Empire and Federation at the same time. But not being in a ship belonging to either. And going AWOL for weeks on end. (Best armed forces ever!)
The mission system, and how missions are presented, in walls of text presented as faux-conversations. And being offered multiple identical missions at the same time, while being told they're special/unique/rare etc.
And being a mid-rank officer in both the Empire and Federation at the same time. But not being in a ship belonging to either. And going AWOL for weeks on end. (Best armed forces ever!)
I have to agree about the death penalty for loitering at a station. But I think FD was being very generous for the penalty of murdering civilians or Police. 1 week ban? That's a whole lot better than having to wipe your save which is what would happen in real life. When you are rescued, you are taken into custody and are imprisoned for the next 10 to 20 years. Or in the case of police, you just aren't rescued at all. Authorities take a very dim view of killing one of their own. And if you kill authority ships and get away with it, you'd have a bounty on you for life or until you were caught in that system and your ship destroyed. Which brings us back to the wipe save.
FD has said game play trumps everything and I think this is a very wise decision.
Not being arrested when you land is a bit weird. I suppose they can't get in your ship, so hopefully they won't allow you to walk around without trying to. When they add people in the tower I hope they st least scowl at you if your wanted.
I always thought it was bizarre that you can get scanned outside of a station carrying illegal goods, receive a fine, and then be allowed to keep your cargo, dock, and sell it at profit. That's not punishment, that's a tax. I've said it before. I'm for a "You've got 30 seconds to dump that cargo or we light you up" response.
I remeber david saying that was the case.
but I agree its a bit of a shallow reason
If I start wondering about what could bother me i'll be writing a very long post. However I know that we are on a journey and it takes time to make it right.
I'm not really annoyed about the speed of travel as that is just a question of how you look a things. I can be on the moon in a blink of an eye in my thought, so maybe in the year 3300 we can travel many times the speed of light.
Regarding the HUD, yeah that could also be more futuristic, I do have some issues with that. That you can see the black market in the galactic map is also kind of strange.
Also that the whole galaxy are mapped out is also a bit unexplainable and I would like to hear how that was done. The USS and signals floating around like little balls are also a bit meh?
I would like some kind of scanner activity to show them. Again when you open the system and galaxy map you can only see that are also a bit hmm? a different effect would be more realistic.
However I can live with it and it doesn't break the game for me, just little details.
I'm not really annoyed about the speed of travel as that is just a question of how you look a things. I can be on the moon in a blink of an eye in my thought, so maybe in the year 3300 we can travel many times the speed of light.
Regarding the HUD, yeah that could also be more futuristic, I do have some issues with that. That you can see the black market in the galactic map is also kind of strange.
Also that the whole galaxy are mapped out is also a bit unexplainable and I would like to hear how that was done. The USS and signals floating around like little balls are also a bit meh?
I would like some kind of scanner activity to show them. Again when you open the system and galaxy map you can only see that are also a bit hmm? a different effect would be more realistic.
However I can live with it and it doesn't break the game for me, just little details.
There is a cloud of shiny chaff bits between you and a hostile ship you're trading fire with.
If it came from the hostile, your gimbals or turrets aim like a drunk and your scans pause in progress. But his wingmates can scan and target right through it to hit you.
If it came from a friendly, you get to ignore it even though it's made of the exact same stuff launched by the exact same modules as your enemies use.
And although I've never seen an ECM jamming module in use, I'm pretty sure they'd have the same no-friendly-fire mechanic too.
If it came from the hostile, your gimbals or turrets aim like a drunk and your scans pause in progress. But his wingmates can scan and target right through it to hit you.
If it came from a friendly, you get to ignore it even though it's made of the exact same stuff launched by the exact same modules as your enemies use.
And although I've never seen an ECM jamming module in use, I'm pretty sure they'd have the same no-friendly-fire mechanic too.
It's weird but the NPCs having silly forum nicknames actually adds to the immersion for me. This is because it makes it less jarring when you encounter a silly human player name. Having a goofy pilot callsign just seems to be the done thing in this culture, and so the inevitable stupid player names we come up with fit right in. It's one of the things I like about this game that the human players aren't some mysterious ubermensch from another dimension with alien powers and motivations, but are basically just doing the same stuff in the same ships as the AI guys, and the nicknames thing actually enhances that for me. Makes me feel more like my little pilot belongs here.
And when those members can spend their days killing other members with impunity, facing no chance of expulsion from the Pilot's Fed (or suspension of any Pilot's Fed privileges) it makes even more of a mockery of the conceit.
The broken and unconsistent instance system, makes me feel that the idea of sharing the same universe with other commanders is completely false.
Its just boring. I relogin 2-3 times a week in the hope to have some fun but after 15-30 minutes I quit it because its so boring - and I didnt played it much
So why are you still here? I guess you get more enjoyment out of trolling those of us who enjoy the game?
Frawd