Elite / Frontier Odd that more posts on Frontier/FFE forum

[Jetblack]

I just noticed that there is far more interest in the forums concerning Elite 4 than on any of frontier Devs other games forums.

I'm not knocking the other games from Frontier Dev just from a marketing point of view - which is my business - these are signs one should take seriously.

So please even if from a purely commercially greedy point of view - develop Elite 4!

 

[tobytyke]

Couldn't agree more. Everybody here seems to be waiting for Elite 4, and while people will wait for the the latest version which should hopefully be brill. We also need to be aware that other companies will see this interest and could protentially development and release a game to relival Elite 4. Lets hope that does happened, but since FFE we've had 'Earth and Beyond', X2&3, Freelance and eve at somepoint somebody is going to get it right before too long. Lets hope that it's Elite 4 so what we can all start flying around in our Cobra Mk2's

 

[Jetblack]

Couldn't agree more. Everybody here seems to be waiting for Elite 4, and while people will wait for the the latest version which should hopefully be brill. We also need to be aware that other companies will see this interest and could protentially development and release a game to relival Elite 4. Lets hope that does happened, but since FFE we've had 'Earth and Beyond', X2&3, Freelance and eve at somepoint somebody is going to get it right before too long. Lets hope that it's Elite 4 so what we can all start flying around in our Cobra Mk2's

Hi Tobytyke,

Good point. There are atleast 10-15 Elite/Frntier clones being developed at the moment. Okay so most of them are one or two man bands so they either won't complete or won't have the depth a fully commercial develpment team can achieve.

However, at some stage someone is going to develop an open ended, milky way sized, newtonian modelled successor to the Elite series.

If you look at what some hobbyists have already achieved with zero budget then i can imagine a full game could be well completed for approx £1million with pro developers and artists over a year. That doesnt include marketing which would obviously be expensive.

x3 was completed in a year - or so I have heard. Okay its not very good IMO, but not through lack of effort, and they've reused all kinds of stuff they developed for the earlier X series games but it shows you what can be done with a determined and fully paid team.

But the advantage of devleoping a modern commercial quality game in the mould of Frontier/FFE is that if its any good, it will get the hype both through viral marketing and of course a lot of interest from the games mags/websites.

But it has to be good backend gameplay and dynamic universe, reasonable graphics etc..

Its not t&qs thats stopping Frontier Dev making this game; i fear its more of an emotional thing with Braben re past headaches. The commercials are almost guaranteed if Frontier Dev makes the game just because Braben will always be seen as grandaddy to the whole idea of Elite syle games. Frontier Dev has a distinct advantage and Braben knows it to he takes his merry time

Imagine David Braben as the character in the Airplane movies. Only kidding David my darling

 

[Sir.Tj]

The situation with other companies releasing a open ended newtonian is a interesting one. It would be such a shame if another company beat David B and Frontier to the punch as it were.

The great thing about E4 will be the £0 cost required on promoting the game, because when Mr B decides to issue a release date, the internet will probably go into total meltdown.

 

[tobytyke]

One of the other great thing about Elite is reputation. Mr Braden has done it before with Elite / Frontier / First encounter.

So when it comes to buying a new games, Most people would pick an Elite successor (Because they know what they are getting) rather than a new unknown. This is not saying that another could surpass Elite, or pip them to the post. But pound for pound Elite would have more appeal than other games on this type. Just look at how many posts are dedicated to a protential new version.

 

[Steve]

One of the other great thing about Elite is reputation. Mr Braden has done it before with Elite / Frontier / First encounter.

That's certainly true as far as Elite and FE2 are concerned, but after the FFE debacle I'm sure Frontier Developments want to get Elite IV absolutely right before it's released.

 

[tobytyke]

Point taken about First encounter, But when it was fully patched it was better than most clones.

I think nostalgia comes into play, Most here had a favourite ship from the original games and dream of flying these ships in a universe using the full power of modern computers / Console. This may tip the scales for most people.

 

[Steve]

Point taken about First encounter, But when it was fully patched it was better than most clones.

You're quite right; FFE is actually my favourite game of all time but I think it's fair to say that its botched release was a bit of a disaster for all concerned at the time.

 

[DraQ]

FFE is still plagued by bugs and unpolished bits compared to FE2:

-why do some of the equipment shows in wrong place on some models (or not at all)? For example Asp's forward gun and missile don't show, Cobra III has it's main gun sticking out of it's aft, etc.
-why are clouds gone?
-why some planets that should have atmospheres (large/medium gas giants, methane weather system worlds) and did have them in FE2 lack any sort of gas cover in FFE?
-why some planets that shouldn't have atmospheres (and didn't in FE2), for example small barren spheres of rock, have them in FFE?
-why all the planets lack axial tilt in FFE?
-why the Alpha centauri A and B have their co-orbital period wrong which makes Lagrange go out of sync (not the case in FE2)?
-Why do some planets with dense atmospheres lack day-lit skies (Merlin springs to mind)?
etc.

While FFE retained most of the positive qualities of FE2 and improved in several important areas, it still suffers from it's early relase even after all the most glaring bugs have been patched.

 

[tobytyke]

Yet again I totally agree. The biggest problem with FFE wasn't anything to do with the actual game, It was because it was really way too early thus not complete. This could be the main the issues with EIV. While we all want it yesterday I think we'd all agree that we'd rather way and have the game how it was intented instead of having a half finished game like FFE.

But Please Mr Braden don't wait too long.

 

[Steve]

The biggest problem with FFE wasn't anything to do with the actual game, It was because it was really way too early thus not complete.

I must admit there are glitches in FFE which annoy me too. I did play FE2 a great deal on my trusty CD32 but for some reason it doesn't get a look in now that (GL)FFE is around. One of those things I can't quite put my finger on...

 

[tobytyke]

Sorry my post should have read. Released too early. But I think everybody got my drift.

I really liked the CD32 version, I thought the locator for the autopilot was a lot easier. You just clicked on the locationl (Space station/Planet) instead of having to hunt for locations with the 3d map.

 

[Jetblack]

FFE is still plagued by bugs and unpolished bits compared to FE2:

-why do some of the equipment shows in wrong place on some models (or not at all)? For example Asp's forward gun and missile don't show, Cobra III has it's main gun sticking out of it's aft, etc.
-why are clouds gone?
-why some planets that should have atmospheres (large/medium gas giants, methane weather system worlds) and did have them in FE2 lack any sort of gas cover in FFE?
-why some planets that shouldn't have atmospheres (and didn't in FE2), for example small barren spheres of rock, have them in FFE?
-why all the planets lack axial tilt in FFE?
-why the Alpha centauri A and B have their co-orbital period wrong which makes Lagrange go out of sync (not the case in FE2)?
-Why do some planets with dense atmospheres lack day-lit skies (Merlin springs to mind)?
etc.

While FFE retained most of the positive qualities of FE2 and improved in several important areas, it still suffers from it's early relase even after all the most glaring bugs have been patched.

Ya i agree.

The cockpit/dashboards is one of the things i hate most about FFE. If you;re ripping through space at a reasonable percentage the speed of c one expects a nice slick pristine cockpit.

The blurred finnished article in FFE really shows there were probs at the end of the dev cycle.

 

[DraQ]

Ya i agree.

The cockpit/dashboards is one of the things i hate most about FFE. If you;re ripping through space at a reasonable percentage the speed of c one expects a nice slick pristine cockpit.

The blurred finnished article in FFE really shows there were probs at the end of the dev cycle.

Agreed. While FFE introduced some improvements to the interface, it's design was very un-functional. Icons were small, hard to decipher and lacked displayed hotkeys, scanner was small and lacked clarity of scanner in FE2, dashboard was often obscured by text messages, etc. To add insult to injury it was also fugly as hell.

 

[tobytyke]

FFE and E2F would have been helped if you had different styles of dashboard based on which ship you own.

This is something which could be incorporated in the EIV.

 

[DraQ]

FFE and E2F would have been helped if you had different styles of dashboard based on which ship you own.

This is something which could be incorporated in the EIV.

Different cockpits in different ships? You have my vote.

 

[tobytyke]

Does anybody think its a bit strange that we all see to have the same ideas as to what we want in EIV.

 

[Darkman]

Does anybody think its a bit strange that we all see to have the same ideas as to what we want in EIV.

And hopefully the Elite IV development team will as well .

 

[VictorT]

wcs!

yah, hopefully Braben & Co. don't take a page from the Lucas playbook..

what if there's JarJar!?

I generally have more faith in them than this. But once bitten, etc etc..

cheers,

 

[Steve]

yah, hopefully Braben & Co. don't take a page from the Lucas playbook..

what if there's JarJar!?

I generally have more faith in them than this. But once bitten, etc etc..

cheers,

To be fair I think the only time they've goofed was with the early release of FFE, though that wasn't their fault. I've never had any problem with the actual content of any of the Elite series.