Wow - that's a damn beefy system you've got there, Cap'n!
Seamless planetary landings
- Thread starter Styggron
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Wow - that's a damn beefy system you've got there, Cap'n!
Cheers matey!
Tbf, I had the o/s and graphics card already and upped the otherbitsandbobs last week via amazon. Total cost to refurb and relaunch the good ship Mystique was £480 I think.Well............
Looks like we got our planetary landings in the update AND for anyone that is on the £90 tier and above we get FREE upgrades.
That is very generous of Frontier. I was worried it would be £150+ tier or something like that.
Also most are probably going to go for £100 with that small difference.
Great news all round.
Looks like we got our planetary landings in the update AND for anyone that is on the £90 tier and above we get FREE upgrades.
That is very generous of Frontier. I was worried it would be £150+ tier or something like that.
Also most are probably going to go for £100 with that small difference.
Great news all round.
But the thing is they HAVE said stuff. They let us make assumptions about game content (i.e. that it would have planetary landings - see early comments in this thread - everyone assumed they would be there), and only very late in the day did they admit that they wouldn't be there at the beginning. Had they released a road map on day one, people's expectations would have been more realistic. Perhaps that doesn't make for a successful kickstarter though.
I've been waiting for E4 as along as anyone here - from the first time I played it on a BBC I wanted to land on Lave and wondered why I couldn't.
Can't speak for anyone else, but I for one have played the game since day one. What planetary landings add is a sense of freedom. To me elite feels very constricted and artificial in comparison to the sequels.
Among other things mate, you know what they say "Can't beat Wellington on a good day" unfortunately there's only about three of them a year. London seemed like a good option at the time and the travel is better there (France or Spain is far more exotic than Aussie and the gold coast
I see in your profile that you're working in film? You working for Weta?
Yeah, the wind can get a little much at times. I do miss the ease of travelling to foreign lands that is possible in Europe. Still, I like living here. All the cool independent cinemas, great views, restaurants etc.
No, I don't actually work in film anymore. I'm have my own photography company. I'd like to get back into it though, but for now just doing it as a hobby on the side.
Which should come first, planetary landings or walking around on ships and stations?
DB mentioned that this is something that the DDF would have input on, but there's no harm in talking about it now.
I think it makes more sense to do walking around first, because it will introduce all kinds of ways in which our avatars will interact with objects. FD and we will learn a lot about how these interactions work with things in the world. We would then use that knowledge in designing the surface of planets.
If we do things in the other order, doing planetary surfaces first, then when we come to add in walking around we might find ourselves wishing that we could redesign how some buildings are constructed or arranged, knowing what we now know about people walking around.
It might be difficult to retroactively change things on the planet surfaces if permanent player placed structures are in the game at that point. Even if there aren't, it might be a bit jarring to have things change. (Having said that, we might have jarring changes anyway if FD later introduces new features on planetary surfaces, after they are opened up.)
I also have a suspicion that many of the most interesting parts of planetary landings (e.g. big game hunting) will only work properly with avatars rather than ships.
DB mentioned that this is something that the DDF would have input on, but there's no harm in talking about it now.
I think it makes more sense to do walking around first, because it will introduce all kinds of ways in which our avatars will interact with objects. FD and we will learn a lot about how these interactions work with things in the world. We would then use that knowledge in designing the surface of planets.
If we do things in the other order, doing planetary surfaces first, then when we come to add in walking around we might find ourselves wishing that we could redesign how some buildings are constructed or arranged, knowing what we now know about people walking around.
It might be difficult to retroactively change things on the planet surfaces if permanent player placed structures are in the game at that point. Even if there aren't, it might be a bit jarring to have things change. (Having said that, we might have jarring changes anyway if FD later introduces new features on planetary surfaces, after they are opened up.)
I also have a suspicion that many of the most interesting parts of planetary landings (e.g. big game hunting) will only work properly with avatars rather than ships.
You're right in that the DDF may be able to influence FD for the order of things.
Personally I would like to see first station walking about; sneaking on ships; friends co-piloting my craft; etc. Planetary landings I didn't really experience as I only extensively played Elite and they were absent from that game.
Personally I would like to see first station walking about; sneaking on ships; friends co-piloting my craft; etc. Planetary landings I didn't really experience as I only extensively played Elite and they were absent from that game.
Ships and stations internals should come first. Including walking around on them, or floating around on them...
The procedural and other richness of planets can be gradually improved while people can fly around them.
Also having building internals is needed for planet walking to be really great and this is accomplished by ship and station internal development. So doing that first makes sense.
The procedural and other richness of planets can be gradually improved while people can fly around them.
Also having building internals is needed for planet walking to be really great and this is accomplished by ship and station internal development. So doing that first makes sense.
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I don't see the point of PL if you can't get out of your ship and do something different to stations, so walking first for me.
From a development perspective, I'm guessing that walking around ships and stations is easier since the ground work seems to be in place already (DB mentioned it in some dev diary) so I'd reluctantly vote in that direction.
Also, if they do planetary landings I want them done right. While I was amazed at the planetary landings in Frontier, and would like nothing more than to see them implemented in ED as soon as possible, they were also quite dull as there wasn't much to do. If they're going to do them, make sure to do them right and give us a rich planetary experience with large colonies, eco-systems and things to discover. I will not settle for empty procedurally generated heightmaps.
Also, if they do planetary landings I want them done right. While I was amazed at the planetary landings in Frontier, and would like nothing more than to see them implemented in ED as soon as possible, they were also quite dull as there wasn't much to do. If they're going to do them, make sure to do them right and give us a rich planetary experience with large colonies, eco-systems and things to discover. I will not settle for empty procedurally generated heightmaps.
Both ideas have merit, but both are limited in what you can do with them discretely.
Walking around stations is fine, but there is going to be a certain generic element to station design, they're made for practicality (probably by the lowest bidding contractor), so aesthetics are going to take a back seat.
How many stations are you going to walk around before you don't bother and just run your transactions from your console?
SPL is going to be fun for a little while, even if the planet looks living and breathing and the scenery breathtaking, there's only so much fun in looking without interacting. People will continue to do it if there is a financial reason for landing rather than docking with the orbital, but it'll feel like a chore all the same.
Star ports could be a bit more varied (as planetary cultures are going to make them more varied than space stations would be), but you need SPL before your avatar can experience them.
For practical reasons (and game variety), I'm voting for SPL.
It's easier to implement for FD (as ship mechanics will already be in place and planetary surfaces can be procedurally generated), so we'll see it sooner.
It offers more visual variety - there's the potential for greater variance in planetary design than for station design - planets are way bigger for a start and it opens the doors to more planet specific markets. Stations could have specific markets too, but I can't think of many things that you'd transport to a space station if you could provide it on the surface.
Walking around stations is fine, but there is going to be a certain generic element to station design, they're made for practicality (probably by the lowest bidding contractor), so aesthetics are going to take a back seat.
How many stations are you going to walk around before you don't bother and just run your transactions from your console?
SPL is going to be fun for a little while, even if the planet looks living and breathing and the scenery breathtaking, there's only so much fun in looking without interacting. People will continue to do it if there is a financial reason for landing rather than docking with the orbital, but it'll feel like a chore all the same.
Star ports could be a bit more varied (as planetary cultures are going to make them more varied than space stations would be), but you need SPL before your avatar can experience them.
For practical reasons (and game variety), I'm voting for SPL.
It's easier to implement for FD (as ship mechanics will already be in place and planetary surfaces can be procedurally generated), so we'll see it sooner.
It offers more visual variety - there's the potential for greater variance in planetary design than for station design - planets are way bigger for a start and it opens the doors to more planet specific markets. Stations could have specific markets too, but I can't think of many things that you'd transport to a space station if you could provide it on the surface.
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So far, it doesn't seem to be neck-and-neck with people willing to explain their reasoning. As with everything else, I'm very willing to change my mind given a good argument.
A logical next step being walking around on planets...
No offense intended.
1. Walking around a station, in and of itself, yawn. Including trips to the virtual pub.
2. Stowing away on someone else's ship always struck me as a griefer's charter.
3. Sub-game FPS in stations or on land (Elite: Big Game Hunter
) doesn't appeal to me, although I accept that down the line it might keep me coming back once I've reached saturation on the space aspect.SPL don't really add much for me, in that I'd have been happy with the basic FFE level of SPL. However, it does add something for me (new ports, atmosphere combat). And, from the KS campaign, it appears that SPL carries some sort of kudos with people that I don't get, which means more people playing, which is good for me.
Something like that.
walking around MUST come first, as if planet landings were first there would be no reason to make them if we can't then leave the protected shell of our ship to go and have a look around.
it would be a bit disappointing if all you could do once you landed is stay in your ship and take readings or trade in the same kind of way as on the stations
I'm all up for getting out your seat and having a look around, as long as the inside of stations are procedurally generated they could have so many different styles and variations, it could also lead to new types of gameplay including grand theft spaceship, bartering with a trader or going to the local bar to scout for a mission.
I would prefer to see getting out first and then planetary landings so you can get out your ship on a planet to go and see local sights, visiting special places.
If planetary landing happened first it might mean its just another place to dock and trade from and not add a great deal to gameplay, I can also see that in distant systems they might not have a station so landing on the planet could be the only way to trade in that system
I want them both, but for me I've always wanted to take a look around my ship and the idea that you can stow away on another ship keeps making my imagination go into overdrive.
I would prefer to see getting out first and then planetary landings so you can get out your ship on a planet to go and see local sights, visiting special places.
If planetary landing happened first it might mean its just another place to dock and trade from and not add a great deal to gameplay, I can also see that in distant systems they might not have a station so landing on the planet could be the only way to trade in that system
I want them both, but for me I've always wanted to take a look around my ship and the idea that you can stow away on another ship keeps making my imagination go into overdrive.