Is JWE good or bad for ED?

Old Duck · Mar 30, 2018

I only recently (about a year ago) became interested in Frontier because ED was announced for the PS4, so I don't really know the company like some of you do. That's why I'm looking for your insight.

Optimistic view - Jurassic World Evolution is a good thing for Elite Dangerous, because it will infuse more money into the company and perhaps provide the software routines needed to give ED landable earth-like worlds with living creatures running around NMS style, but better! [yesnod]

Pessimist view - JWE is a shift in the company's focus, and resources are being diverted away from ED to focus on this new project. It seems like Frontier "spared no expense" in creating JWE, whereas ED feels like a back-burner project these days..

So what do you think, is JWE the beginning or the end of ED?

GODofDUTY83 · Mar 30, 2018

ED aint no where near finished, I believe anyway.
Frontier said not to long ago that they're just getting started. Why wouldn't I believe them ? Do they have a habit of lying ?

The more they pump into this game, the more that other people will take notice.
The game might not be on certain folks radar right now but as time goes on new content might catch the eye of those folks.

Im hopeful.

Cmdr Eagleboy · Mar 30, 2018

JWE will be another huge hit for FD. So it is a win for ED.

Only case when ED is kaput when devs won't believe in it anymore. Despite what you think about design changes, I don't see ED team being idle. They just keep rocking on.

Also FD management have proven they are well oiled machine. They seem to be capable to running and delivering content on regular basis for different lineups at same time.

whereas ED feels like a back-burner project these days.

Comparing to what?

Issue with ED is that it is huge and complex game. You can add new feature and do not touch core gameplay (not advisable, FD correcting that mistake with Beyond), or you can make people wait for new feature only to be disappointed afterwards because you partially failed to get it working (Multi crew). So FD works on core gameplay (while slowly chucking new shiny feature in background along) and people start to see ED in backburner (which is understandable).

I personally just try to avoid such analysis these days. I have learned to live for today in regards of ED and enjoy heck out of it.

LeoBartlet · Mar 30, 2018

So what do you think, is JWE the beginning or the end of ED?

No Next question.

Cmdr Ultra · Mar 30, 2018

Old Duck said:
So what do you think, is JWE the beginning or the end of ED?

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Old Duck · Mar 30, 2018

GODofDUTY83 said:
ED aint no where near finished, I believe anyway.
Frontier said not to long ago that they're just getting started. Why wouldn't I believe them ? Do they have a habit of lying ?

I don't know the answer to this. One thing that feels like a 'red flag' to me is progress in ED compared to JWE. Frontier just created an amazing-looking game (JWE) from scratch, and during that same time period, the additional content added to ED has been "meh" in comparison. Now if Frontier starts using JWE features to create ELWs in ED, then that's a different, more optimistic story.

Shadowdancer · Mar 30, 2018

Doomed® Soon™!

Why do people think that a game that will very likely generate all the profit is bad for those making it?

iFred · Mar 30, 2018

Old Duck said:
I only recently (about a year ago) became interested in Frontier because ED was announced for the PS4, so I don't really know the company like some of you do. That's why I'm looking for your insight.

Optimistic view - Jurassic World Evolution is a good thing for Elite Dangerous, because it will infuse more money into the company and perhaps provide the software routines needed to give ED landable earth-like worlds with living creatures running around NMS style, but better! [yesnod]

Pessimist view - JWE is a shift in the company's focus, and resources are being diverted away from ED to focus on this new project. It seems like Frontier "spared no expense" in creating JWE, whereas ED feels like a back-burner project these days..

So what do you think, is JWE the beginning or the end of ED?

If you watched the trailer and Ed´s interview you may have seen that those names don´t appear in the team of Elite.

On the other hand - development has extremely slowed down and Elite is full of bugs and very short-sighted design decisions. My assumption: the "important" part of the team is working on JWE, while some juniors start practicing on Elite. At least the last patches and the quality of those patches show a clear lack of experience. It sounds hard, I know - but for example the 106th "revamp" of the mission system clearly shows in what direction everything goes. At least for now.

All speculation of course.

Cmdr Ultra · Mar 30, 2018

Jurassic is built in the same engine as Elite. The Cobra engine. The whole Jurassic game is future tech for Atmospheric landing and Braben's once stated goal of Big Game Hunting.

Winterwalker · Mar 30, 2018

JWE is good for Elite. No doubt about it.

Riverside · Mar 30, 2018

I don't see how it could be bad for ED really, long term it can only be good for Frontier to have more feathers in their cap, and for the Cobra engine to be used and developed by more eyes.

I wonder if the ED community & game is good for JWE (and planet coaster) though, they seem to have much more in common with each other than either has with ED (from a play style perspective).

Gully Foyle · Mar 30, 2018

Old Duck said:
I only recently (about a year ago) became interested in Frontier because ED was announced for the PS4, so I don't really know the company like some of you do. That's why I'm looking for your insight.

Optimistic view - Jurassic World Evolution is a good thing for Elite Dangerous, because it will infuse more money into the company and perhaps provide the software routines needed to give ED landable earth-like worlds with living creatures running around NMS style, but better! [yesnod]

Pessimist view - JWE is a shift in the company's focus, and resources are being diverted away from ED to focus on this new project. It seems like Frontier "spared no expense" in creating JWE, whereas ED feels like a back-burner project these days..

So what do you think, is JWE the beginning or the end of ED?

Could we have a third choice Ducky?

How about they both prosper and advance together?

Since the People's Republic Of 10 Cent injected a ton of coin into FD, I don't think we should worry too much about E: D dissappearing.

The only thing that would kill E: D is turning into Pokemon Starfox, as some new Cmdrs seem to wish.

Cmdr Ultra said:
Jurassic is built in the same engine as Elite. The Cobra engine. The whole Jurassic game is future tech for Atmospheric landing and Braben's once stated goal of Big Game Hunting.

Spot on mate as they say in MOE
(merrie ole angleland)

Shadowdancer · Mar 30, 2018

mrsanders said:
JWE development simply happened behind closed doors.

And in an area where Frontier have a lot of previous experience (park simulators) and an already popular product (Planet Coaster) that very possibly may have provided the grounds to develop JWE for relatively cheap on the technical side. I'm not saying that it was cheap overall, because creating assets is a major effort, but all in all it's unlikely to be a high-risk product.

Lightspeed · Mar 30, 2018

ED lost its Executive Director (edit ... actually correct title is Executive Producer) to JWE, so that is bound to have had an impact. A replacement was made, but we have heard nothing (as far as I am aware) from him.

Nevertheless, the free updates to Horizons are continuing apace. The furore over C&P was always going to be huge, no matter what was introduced, and it will take a long while to shake down. Meanwhile, the planetary improvements are stunning. There are also numerous quality of life changes along the way that have made small, but welcome improvements to how the game feels.

Let's hope changes anticipated for Q2, Q3 and Q4 have clarity of thought and purpose.

Gully Foyle · Mar 30, 2018

DeVaStAtOr said:
No Next question.

Would an african grey pterosaurus fit into my Asp's cargo bay?

MadDogMurdock · Mar 30, 2018

If things being developed for JWE can't be adapted for ED, then FD have no business making games.

My suspicion is that some aspect of JWE will form the basis of the as yet unknown DLC for ED expected in Q4.

Gully Foyle · Mar 30, 2018

Old Duck said:
I don't know the answer to this. One thing that feels like a 'red flag' to me is progress in ED compared to JWE. Frontier just created an amazing-looking game (JWE) from scratch, and during that same time period, the additional content added to ED has been "meh" in comparison. Now if Frontier starts using JWE features to create ELWs in ED, then that's a different, more optimistic story.

Go with the optimism. I see in my crystal ball a meld of Coaster, Elite and Evo all in one game

MadDogMurdock said:
If things being developed for JWE can't be adapted for ED, then FD have no business making games.

My suspicion is that some aspect of JWE will form the basis of the as yet unknown DLC for ED expected in Q4.

Live Thargoids in-game for space legs perhaps Cmdr?

Cmdr Ultra · Mar 30, 2018

Maybe alter the original question - 'Is JWE good or bad for ED?'

To.............Is Money good or bad for FD/ED?

I'm gonna go with mo money good, no money bad.

Vardaugas · Mar 30, 2018

Gully_Foyle said:
Would an african grey pterosaurus fit into my Asp's cargo bay?

Only if you fold it right. And of course you will need a size 3 Life Specimen Transportation Unit.

Crank Larson · Mar 30, 2018

It's a different game with a different team of developers, just like Planet Coaster. As such, it doesn't take any resources away from E: D.

Old Duck said:
Frontier just created an amazing-looking game (JWE) from scratch,

No, they didn't. They already had the Cobra engine (also used by E: D), so that saves a huge amount of work.