News David Braben Live Chat Thread (5th June)

[Overlord]

Hi David,

We've already heard that later down the line player built space stations will be possible, my question is:
Is there any other planned aspects of outpost building that will let players or groups of friends settle or perhaps unofficially designate some distant planet as their homeworld? Whether it be by some sort of private hanger or storage warehouse construct when planetary landings are introduced.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I know it's planned we will be able to fly down to the planets surface and interact with cities or wildlife that's there, but will we be able to put things of our own there as well?

A secondary question, will people be credited for descovering star systems or other things in the universe? i.e. by having their commander name on the map or similar?

 

[Michael Brookes]

I'd just lock this thread except for mods and DB!?

Seems a bit harsh.

Michael

 

[EidLeWeise]

Consider yourself hugged for trying a whole 30 minutes!

@Michael... show us on the doll where the bad man touched you...

 

[David Braben]

teamkill "Talking of exploration, do you envisage finding a new system and instantly knowing what planets/moons etc are there or will it remain 'dark' until someone finds them. Also will the discoverer be known throughout the universe. (news feed possibly)?"

Stellar systems that have not been explored will simply show the star or star(s) that can be seen there from a distance, and have a systematic name. Someone will have to explore them AND RETURN for them to become more generally known. They will also be able to stake a claim and name such a system.

Some 'dark' systems will not be shown at all, until someone actively scans that area of space, and makes that information available - and without that information (which will be tradable) it will not be possible to travel through hyperspace to it.

 

[Brodie]

I've given up blocking questions in this thread

Michael

Just remove any posts that aren't Davids, people will soon get the message.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Just remove any posts that aren't Davids, people will soon get the message.

Ohh, now theres a thought....

 

[wstephenson]

How do you balance the need to run Elite as a successful business project with its status as a cultural artifact?

 

[David Braben]

Sloma - "Hi David I hope to see you soon on Twitch answering questions, anyway I have a question: Are you focused atm on Federal / Independent side? Why are we not seeing any Imperial ship designs or any content related to Imperial faction?"

The area of space we chose happens to be a long way from Imperial space, hence the focus of PB1 etc. We have Imperial content too (as in the 'Damocles' video and the Imperial cruiser and Imperial fighters), but that will come as we open up space.

 

[Francois]

hi david and michael..

its a privilege being able to write you there !

which way you intend to make the empire diversity ?

like will there be differences from federation space?

thanks

 

[Slawkenbergius]

The planets still seem so far away when we are dropped out of supercruise. Will this distance change before launch, or will we have to wait for the planetary landings expansion?

 

[stephen_usher]

David, just one question:

There has been some debate since the first alpha release about the merits of the vernier speed markers in the HUD verses the "space plankton" effect which, although useful in the previous Elite games, seems superfluous and rather intrusive, at least in normal space. I just wondered what your opinion on this was. It's your game after all and your vision. :smilie:

 

[Brodie]

The planets still seem so far away when we are dropped out of supercruise. Will this distance change before launch, or will we have to wait for the planetary landings expansion?

Oh i hope not, I like my space travel to include travel

 

[ubermick]

Morning, Mr. Braben! (Well... it's morning here on the West coast of America!)

Do you think England has much of a chance at the World Cup? (Hint: The answer is no with Hodgson at the helm).

On a more relevant note, the majority of us are quite happy at the complexity of the game so far, and it seems that only more depth and options will be added. Is there any plan to partner with peripheral companies, to make an "official" ED HOTAS (or similar) system, perhaps with a small dedicated keyboard for the various controls?

 

[David Braben]

Colonel Kenney - "One interesting question I have. Much of the galaxy will take us a very long time to get to. Are there any plans of implementing any sort of "shortcuts" to different parts of the galaxy such as wormholes? Like something extremely rare but there are some hidden around for us to discover etc? Like how can we explore the center of the galaxy if it would take a year of gameplay to get there etc?"


No, we're not planning to implement shortcuts. For me, one of the attractions is it IS a big achievement to travel a long distance. I like the idea of the occasional meeting of a player far far out in the galaxy as a chance encounter. We do plan to seed things of interest out there too.

 

[baskila]

If people won't follow the rules I can see this thread locked very soon. Only few will have their questions answered and trolls will win again

 

[Ibastavd]

Ibastavd -

(oh, and I'm too stupid to know what you mean by a padlock view...).

OMG, I thought god knew everything?

padlock view = target a ship, planet etc. and your view is locked on it... like automatic head look.. eyes fixed to the target as the ship moves. X-Wing Alliance had it and it so adds to the immersion of flight. s chuck Yeager said, loose sight - loose the flight!

...but you knew that anyway.

Thanks for the reply, means a lot.

 

[parablax]

Current active forum users are 718, is this a record?

 

[chris5281]

One of the most amazing things the Elite games do is balance a realistic take on astrophysics with fun gameplay. No other series has walked this line so well and all the team really have to be commended for their attention to detail.

We know contact binaries are in the game, and the tidal distortion will be modelled at one point. What about semi-detached binaries? Two stars where one is transferring material to the other via a tidal stream and accretion disc?

Sorry about the very specific question - professional interest If the answer is yes I'll be so happy!

 

[Skizomeuh]

How do you balance the need to run Elite as a successful business project with its status as a cultural artifact?

That's an interesting one !

 

[David Braben]

Ben Ryder - "Will there be a competition and a trophy for the first people to reach Elite?"

Nice idea! Yes, we certainly should do something - though this would be post-release.