Will I ever be able to get out of my ship?

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

That's what EVE did, and everyone got bored in nine nanoseconds. Sorry.

Truth to be told, EVE has never been designed from first person perspective, so it is no surprise they struggled to come up with gameplay for that. That's not exactly problem ED have.

But yeah, as example of 'just release something' is right on target. Space legs won't work with 'just release something'. And other scenario is to do awfully lot of work.

 

[Dietger]

Truth to be told, EVE has never been designed from first person perspective, so it is no surprise they struggled to come up with gameplay for that. That's not exactly problem ED have.

Absolute!

First person gameplay in Frontiers Elite has a future. It just had to be done properly, time and money spend aplenty. Before we see anything.

 

[Kubicide]

That's really the crux of it, right? There's been extensive discussions about space legs all over the forums, and it's a difficult one to answer from our perspective. It's something we really, really want to do.... but if it doesn't add any long-term value, it's a lot of work for something that lacks meaningful gameplay. There was another thread on this that we were taking notes from with regards to the comparison to EVE's version of 'space legs'. Unfortunately that thread was lost as the OP requested his account to be removed and all posts he made to be wiped. Essentially it was a discussion regarding the feature being removed from EVE (if I recall the linked article correctly) due to lack of people using.

It's still something we'd like to do, but the focus after 2.4 will be improvements of core gameplay mechanics. To add this rather heavy feature without meaningful activities around it would be a disservice to you guys, and it's a hell of a lot of work for the dev team. My advice would be to work on the assumption that it'll be a ways off yet, because as has been mentioned many times before: to do it properly would be a whole new game within ED.

Thanks for posting the companies current view on this subject.

Fans should wake up and take this as sobering news. I read this as there won't be any 'space legs'. Read it the way to want you to but Dale is correct in that there's so much that would have to be developed it's unlikely ever going to happen. That's what is being said. I totally agree as the game we have today was never designed for a first person character from the start. But hey, we did get a billion planets or galaxies or whatever...

Joke and poke all you want at that other game being developed and constantly delayed but it shows just how much work is required to support such a feature.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Thanks for posting the companies current view on this subject.

Fans should wake up and take this as sobering news. I read this as there won't be any 'space legs'. Read it the way to want you to but Dale is correct in that there's so much that would have to be developed it's unlikely ever going to happen. That's what is being said. I totally agree as the game we have today was never designed for a first person character from the start. But hey, we did get a billion planets or galaxies or whatever...

Joke and poke all you want at that other game being developed and constantly delayed but it shows just how much work is required to support such a feature.

Company current view on space legs has been known for a year now. Dale just repeated what they have said. No, it does not say never. No, it does not say when.

Also other game is delayed because of incompetence of it's developers.

 

[Kubicide]

I'm sorry, but who did not laugh at that statement?

Does any feature of Elite currently have "meaningful" activities?

Power play? Nope
CqC? Nope
Engineers? Nope
Multi crew? Nope

They have grind for sure, but meaningful Persistent activities?

NOPE.

Actually, good point! Very ironic isn't it.[big grin]

 

[Lucius-Darcia]

Hope dies last. Maybe (!) we will be able to do so in the far away future.

Between...what's the point of a door in a prison? *irony off*

 

[Jack Schitt]

I think an alternative to a complete FP(whatever) game add on would be to design the interior of the ships, and enable the camera suite to access the interior.
Problem is, I have a feeling any interior shots, or roaming the interior would require more than one cutscene, depending on the ship size.

They could have science stations to do experiments. They could have a salvage bay where you can break down the wrecks and keep only the valuable stuff. The only reason the ship might not do it automatically might be that if you cut apart the salvage yourself you might find messages and or clues to a bigger mystery. Sort of like the green glow from thargoid ships.

Something like this would be a start, even if the transition was just a fade to and from black like the SRV or SLF transitions. At least it would show that FD were prepared to consider gameplay that doesn't just involve sitting in the pilot's chair facing in the same direction as the guns, even if the mechanics of moving around the ship in zero-g (or low-g if docked) weren't yet in place.

There's a lot of talk at the moment about making Exploration more hands-on. Wouldn't this be an ideal time to consider adding science stations into the mix and offering interface interactions beyond what can be squeezed into the tabs of the left and right holographic panels?

Instead it just appears to me that every time the subject of "space legs" is broached, and FD staff responds, the company's enthusiasm for the feature seems a little more diminished somehow. Maybe I am reading too much into it, or maybe it's just the repetition itself that lends an air of resignation to the whole thing. But so far we've had variants of "it'll come", "it'll come eventually", "we still want to do this", "we'd like to do this" and now "it's still something we'd like to do."

It just feels one step removed from, "It's something we really wanted to do but..."

 

[Haden Jett]

I wonder what Space Legs would be like on a high G planet. Not Space Legs, Lead Legs. Moving from A to B would be so slow. Same could be said for low G worlds, bouncing around everywhere (yes, a jet pack or something similar could help).

 

[simonharrison]

There's only one way the mechanics of space legs should be implemented: check out Lone Echo / Echo Arena on the Oculus Rift. Amazing immersion, zero gravity manoeuvring around inside and outside by pushing off grab handles, walls, etc. Feels incredibly smooth, natural and doesn't induce any nausea at all.

Needs a bit of thought to controls outside the Rift though.

And yes, overall gameplay that comes with it needs to be meaningful, although just the social aspect of it on e.g. exploration expeditions would make it worthwhile, even without any gameplay!

 

[EUS]

I wonder what Space Legs would be like on a high G planet. Not Space Legs, Lead Legs. Moving from A to B would be so slow. Same could be said for low G worlds, bouncing around everywhere (yes, a jet pack or something similar could help).

Like this:
[video=youtube;mpxBXeJzrW4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpxBXeJzrW4[/video]

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

It just feels one step removed from, "It's something we really wanted to do but..."

I think their intention is not to say no, we won't do it. I guess constantly demanding we setup FD recent efforts to fail and that's why they feel they have to double down on it. He said that it is better to thing as way off because it is way off and for FD their current work is more important.

 

[Dietger]

OP

According to this poster you will. In proper time. Thanks Jenner for the reminder.

 

[Darron]

That's really the crux of it, right? There's been extensive discussions about space legs all over the forums, and it's a difficult one to answer from our perspective. It's something we really, really want to do.... but if it doesn't add any long-term value, it's a lot of work for something that lacks meaningful gameplay. There was another thread on this that we were taking notes from with regards to the comparison to EVE's version of 'space legs'. Unfortunately that thread was lost as the OP requested his account to be removed and all posts he made to be wiped. Essentially it was a discussion regarding the feature being removed from EVE (if I recall the linked article correctly) due to lack of people using.

It's still something we'd like to do, but the focus after 2.4 will be improvements of core gameplay mechanics. To add this rather heavy feature without meaningful activities around it would be a disservice to you guys, and it's a hell of a lot of work for the dev team. My advice would be to work on the assumption that it'll be a ways off yet, because as has been mentioned many times before: to do it properly would be a whole new game within ED.

You make me cry! Space legs are my dream! I'll be happy to even walk on the ship's bridge! That will be enough... The game in which you can own a ship and most importantly, to walk on it is just the limit of dreams. Do not give up the idea of space legs. I believe, I hope, I wait...

 

[Jenner]

OP

According to this poster you will. In proper time. Thanks Jenner for the reminder.

You're welcome, but Dale's reply represents FD's current thinking on this, so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Yeah, David and the rest of us were operating under the assumption that it would be 'on the Horizon' (see what I did there?) back in the day, but FD are less committed to it now for various reasons.

 

[Moonax IRL]

You're welcome, but Dale's reply represents FD's current thinking on this, so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Yeah, David and the rest of us were operating under the assumption that it would be 'on the Horizon' (see what I did there?) back in the day, but FD are less committed to it now for various reasons.

Maybe because FD are juggling to many things at once, they have a number of games on the go, which is fair enough and good for the health of the company. But more demand on finite resources means a lot of compromises have to be made. Space legs could be one of those compromises, FD are not willing to put the work and resources into it to see it through. ED has been put on the slow burn mode in the last 12 mths or so, which looks to continue with the new Jurassic Park game. We`ll know more in October.

 

[Dietger]

You're welcome, but Dale's reply represents FD's current thinking on this, so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Yeah, David and the rest of us were operating under the assumption that it would be 'on the Horizon' (see what I did there?) back in the day, but FD are less committed to it now for various reasons.

Hi Jenner,

as long as I can't see any dementi from Braben, I will assume we are still on track, sticking to the plan.
Thank you for the heads up and your work here with the community.

Cheers

 

[Remus]

As far as I'm concerned.

The simple fact that I could be able to run around my ship during supercruise would be an amazing experience.
Drop near a beautiful vista and bask as I admire the view from the forward part of the ship.

Would it wear of, sure, but then you could start slowly introducing game mechanics, like eva, boarding, etc...

And then being able to walk around stations, the simple fact that I could walk around the station, visiting every spot of a coriolis would take me weeks by the mere size of it !

Afterwards you could add personal quarters, small pieces of a station that commanders could call their own. Fully customizable with furnitures either collected form salvage or bought from the store.

You could add simple activities, like bars, casinos, nothing fancy, but enough to make the place feel alive and enough to give commanders a reason to visit.

You could tie in CQC to the main game by adding "arcade" hubs where a commander can then access the CQC hub and control a SLF by telepresence.

The bulletin board could be accessible trough your ship AND hubs placed all around the station, but some special NPC's could give "special" missions, like the "tip offs" we know today, very difficult but with amazing rewards !

Those NPC's would be only accessible trough bars, casinos and whatnot and unlocked after reaching friendly or allied status with the ruling faction.

One could even as stated by Mr Braben STEAL a ship with cargo and all.

All of this will take time, I know it.

But we can achieve this in the same way the Egyptians achieved building the pyramids, one stone at a time.

Though the community has proven to be quite impatient, and I can understand the concern on Mr Samarco when talking about this. People expect to have everything handed to them in one go, and then they get angry when devs tell them soon, and no promises etc...

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

And to those who ask to what purpose should we add space legs ?

What purpose did we have in sending a man to the moon ?

The team has the support of most of the community. Space legs will come when its ready, I just hope it wont be to late for it to remain relevant.

THAT is my biggest concern !

But until then, carry on Mr Sammarco, you and your team are doing a terrific job, very excited for what 2.4 will bring!

 

[Vasco Sapien]

I think its a feature that runs a high risk of being half baked much like Multicrew, so id rather see this feature have some real meat on it before its released.

In the meantime if Fdev could release some artwork and blueprints showing the internal working, design and floorplan of the ships i can look at that and use the worlds most powerful graphics chip.... the human imagination.

 

[Dietger]

Maybe because FD are juggling to many things at once, they have a number of games on the go, which is fair enough and good for the health of the company. But more demand on finite resources means a lot of compromises have to be made. Space legs could be one of those compromises, FD are not willing to put the work and resources into it to see it through. ED has been put on the slow burn mode in the last 12 mths or so, which looks to continue with the new Jurassic Park game. We`ll know more in October.

True.

Elite Dangerous got themself a place in AAA gaming. And it's nowhere near top priority, for them, by now. But.

Noone will remember them for their little theme park games, nor for their dino herding soon to come.
Elite Dangerous is about an idea. Frontier, and first and foremost David Braben will be remembered about this.
As long as we play the game and share the idea, the man has an audience. Frontier has a purpose beyond money grinding and a reason to care on.

Lets see how far this get them.
And us.





cheers

 

[Kappy01]

Apparently you've been quarantined due to personal hygiene issues. You've been wearing that same flight suit since you first climbed into that sidewinder - it's a bit ripe now. Anyway, the rest of the galactic community got together and decided that you're not coming out of that ship til you get a shower and some fresh clothes. The rest of us have been walking round stations for ages...

I repped that. Thanks. I haven't laughed that hard all day.