News From orbit down to Europa

[Privata]

Come on .. That's not necessary .. Star Citizen could well end up being one of the best video games ever released. Whilst the way they are going about the development and funding may not be the best way of doing it, they are still creating something that could be very special indeed.


Don't turn the thread into an ED vs SC one.

Its just a balancing act. I like SC , but so far I think ED has a higher chance of being the best.
my issue , is not with SC but rather the press , who go on and on and on about the game and often say things that are not true (like once they said SC is 1;1 scale)

 

[The Law]

and horizons would be a great place to introduce them.

I hope there will be option for naked passangers, at least something to look upon during long FSD jumps.

 

[Artie]

I am really sorry to say that, but my expectations for final Horizons release are much lower with each sneak peek released.
Freezes when going from orbital to glide, same as SC exit. Hard transitions from surface to structures (no natural transition or dust on lower walls, everything looks so sterile like there is cleaning squad having hard shift each day). Dead looking bases (except skimmers). "Potion brewing" with rare materials (not interested in it too much). Funny looking small ships with highly pulled landing gear. Dull looking surface (although planets from higher distance looks great and I still hope there will be something more interesting visible as presented in early developers stream). Nothing much from gameplay presented so far except riding on the surface (which almost seems like there is nothing more to do than that).

I am still looking forward to Horizons, bought it already, but I am getting more and more pessimistic unfortunately. But, I can be at least pleasantly surprised at release, eh?

 

[Mephane]

Without an atmosphere all objects regardless of mass fall at the same speed (depending on the gravity), once they hit terminal velocity.

You take a feather and a hammer up to the moon and drop them at the same time, and they will hit the ground at the same time.

1. I know.
2. Terminal velocity only exists in an atmosphere. It is basically the point where the force of acceleration from gravity, and the force from air friction, cancel each other out (this is how parachutes work, they increase the friction through their large, wide surfacel, thus reducing your terminal velocity).

 

[Nagual]

Without an atmosphere all objects regardless of mass fall at the same speed (depending on the gravity), once they hit terminal velocity.

You take a feather and a hammer up to the moon and drop them at the same time, and they will hit the ground at the same time.

But without atmosphere, how do you have Terminal Velocity? Perhaps I've misunderstood you.

 

[Toumal]

What I'm proposing is "simply" that people drop directly to "Glide" even if they in the beginning of this phase from a network point of view will not be connected to any instance (like SOLO mode if you like), the same thing as the "shake". Then, as the connections have been made you enter that instance and "fade into view" for other players.

Exactly what I proposed. This has the drawback of ships not being visible to other players (both in and out of SC) while in the early stages of the "glide" phase, but this is really just a matter of a few seconds.

Likewise, I vote for a transition animation when dropping out of SC in space. Just a purely clientside animation thing, anything that isn't like the current "your ship stops on the spot for several seconds" solution.


This would be just a quality of life improvement - but a big one.

 

[Kissinger]

While I know this is a highly unfair comment, it now feels like ED is at the point of being a full game. By that I look at FFE etc. etc. and think that most of what was there is now truly coming to light.

Agreed, hence my unctuous congratulations above It really does look like ED is going places now.

 

[Pomerlaw]

I'm still waiting for my tire tracks, David. aha

 

[OriginalBadBoy]

But without atmosphere, how do you have Terminal Velocity? Perhaps I've misunderstood you.

Apologies, I should have put maximum velocity.

 

[Kissinger]

But without atmosphere, how do you have Terminal Velocity? Perhaps I've misunderstood you.

Agreed, there is no terminal velocity without atmosphere - unless you count the speed of light as a terminal velocity, but you won't get anywhere near that falling to a planet (the max you could possibly reach in free-falling from any distance would be that planet's escape velocity if you think about it.)

>>Apologies, I should have put maximum velocity.

There is no maximum velocity, excepting the proviso(s) above.

 

[Tinman]

Exactly what I proposed. This has the drawback of ships not being visible to other players (both in and out of SC) while in the early stages of the "glide" phase , but this is really just a matter of a few seconds.

This is still true currently while the ship is shaking...we can't be seen by anyone then either. So it doesn't even change anything from that perspective.

Likewise, I vote for a transition animation when dropping out of SC in space. Just a purely clientside animation thing, anything that isn't like the current "your ship stops on the spot for several seconds" solution.


This would be just a quality of life improvement - but a big one.

Yes, especially considering how often we come across it.

 

[Mephane]

Funny looking small ships with highly pulled landing gear.

This is my biggest issue and fear regarding Horizons. The Vulture on chicken legs, now the Imperial Eagle, it looks so brittle, silly and ugly. If at least the ships would only raise on command, to allow the SRV to enter and exit, and not remain like that all the time. I mean, surely the ships must be able to switch between normal and chicken leg mode, because some ships might have trouble fitting in the hangars otherwise. I am still fearful whether my FDL will have the syndrome, too, or whether it has enough clearance between cargo hatch and ground... this stylish ship must not stand on stilts...

 

[OriginalBadBoy]

I am really sorry to say that, but my expectations for final Horizons release are much lower with each sneak peek released.
Freezes when going from orbital to glide, same as SC exit. Hard transitions from surface to structures (no natural transition or dust on lower walls, everything looks so sterile like there is cleaning squad having hard shift each day). Dead looking bases (except skimmers). "Potion brewing" with rare materials (not interested in it too much). Funny looking small ships with highly pulled landing gear. Dull looking surface (although planets from higher distance looks great and I still hope there will be something more interesting visible as presented in early developers stream). Nothing much from gameplay presented so far except riding on the surface (which almost seems like there is nothing more to do than that).

I am still looking forward to Horizons, bought it already, but I am getting more and more pessimistic unfortunately. But, I can be at least pleasantly surprised at release, eh?

Everything that you are asking for requires additional building blocks to be in place. For example for bases to look more 'active', people and vehicle's need to be in the game, for that avatars need to be created, and walking NPCs.

One step at a time ..

 

[archeolog108]

Yes, and this is good.

 

[OriginalBadBoy]

Agreed, there is no terminal velocity without atmosphere - unless you count the speed of light as a terminal velocity, but you won't get anywhere near that falling to a planet (the max you could possibly reach in free-falling would be that planet's escape velocity if you think about it.)

>>Apologies, I should have put maximum velocity.

There is no maximum velocity, excepting the proviso(s) above.

Well there is in that at some point you will hit the ground > Zero velocity!

I am pretty sure the velocity would not change that much when you are talking about a few km's up from a surface. A few million km maybe, I guess that was my point I was trying to make (badly).

 

[Artie]

Everything that you are asking for requires additional building blocks to be in place. For example for bases to look more 'active', people and vehicle's need to be in the game, for that avatars need to be created, and walking NPCs.

One step at a time ..

I am not asking specifically for people walking around. But for example what some transporters moving cargo like in the starports (where it is very simple animation which probably doesn't work on the surface bases), what about some cranes moving crates from/to loading bays, what about NPC SRVs, what about service drones (like skimmers) doing repair on higher towers, what about small personal transportation vehicles/capsules/ship, what about... ? There is lot of things that can happen and it doesn't need a single human character in it and just little new things/mechanics to be done.

 

[atlas974]

Exactly what I proposed. This has the drawback of ships not being visible to other players (both in and out of SC) while in the early stages of the "glide" phase, but this is really just a matter of a few seconds.

Likewise, I vote for a transition animation when dropping out of SC in space. Just a purely clientside animation thing, anything that isn't like the current "your ship stops on the spot for several seconds" solution.


This would be just a quality of life improvement - but a big one.

Agreed, and i'll add that we need many client side animations with slightly differences due to the fact that we see them a LOT..... Could add some sound variations too

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

I am not asking specifically for people walking around. But for example what some transporters moving cargo like in the starports (where it is very simple animation which probably doesn't work on the surface bases), what about some cranes moving crates from/to loading bays, what about NPC SRVs, what about service drones (like skimmers) doing repair on higher towers, what about small personal transportation vehicles/capsules/ship, what about... ? There is lot of things that can happen and it doesn't need a single human character in it and just little new things/mechanics to be done.

+1, some tiny details that bring feelings to the many places we visit!

 

[Roybe]

Whatever happens on monday, FD will go in history as the first studio to ever release open space game with full 3D planetary graphics on such scale. Great job everyone at FD.

This! I know, in the scheme of things...most will be more worried with the banality of what is or isn't 'gamey', however, one of the more important ideas is that a game is allowing for a 1:1 map of a planetary surface to be created and used as an environment for a game.

I understand there needs to be a game, however, take at least 15 or 30 minutes to appreciate the environment and what this COULD mean for gaming in general.

 

[Ozric]

I am not asking specifically for people walking around. But for example what some transporters moving cargo like in the starports (where it is very simple animation which probably doesn't work on the surface bases), what about some cranes moving crates from/to loading bays, what about NPC SRVs, what about service drones (like skimmers) doing repair on higher towers, what about small personal transportation vehicles/capsules/ship, what about... ? There is lot of things that can happen and it doesn't need a single human character in it and just little new things/mechanics to be done.

Phew, at least they're just little things

 

[Abbadon]

I hope oneday it will be truly seamless, and I really hope they are going to improve the texture loading for release.
However i got to say... OMG IT'S HAPPENING Keep up the good work