The case for frontier to be less frontierish (or is space legs elite 2?)

[VR SenseiMatty]

You don't really expect atmospheric earth-like planets for the next update, do you? If you look at this other WIP space game and consider for how long they work on such features, you can imagine what FDev is going to produce in this rather short time frame with 25% of the staff and also considering the updates we already got.
With that all in mind, I expect we get access to lifeless atmospheric planets, lava worlds (those are already late, right?) and gas giants.

It's difficult to compare other space games becuase the roadmaps are completely different.
FDEV started developing the galaxy and the core game, and that's what they've been doing also for the last 3 years up to Beyond.
Tthen we suppose they will develop legs and atmospheric environments.
Star Citizen did the opposite: there you have legs since 4 years and atmospheric planets since 3. But most of the core game and the "galaxy" are still missing.
Same did No Man's Sky at its first release: legs and all planet types but no contents, which arrived later.

Based on this we should assume that the core features takes longer to be developed than an EVA module and some atmospheric effects (which makes sense to me) so the big part of the job in Elite is already done.
As I already said, Legs and Atmospheric Planets are feasible for end of 2020. One team works at legs and contents for legs and one team works at the graphical engine to add atmospheric planet. I'm not saying we will have water worlds with giant whales and ELW filled with life though.
I guess we might see Ammonia Worlds with Thargoid bases, generic planets with clouds (rocky/ice/HMC).
If we're lucky we will also get Volcanic Planets and Gas Giants (but I doubt). ELW and WW will come definitely later when FDEV got also vegetation and life developed.

 

[Jools]

But in the past, FD have been more talkative and it fuelled negativity on the forum. Or more likely, the negativity is unrelated to FD's communication at all. It's always been here, to a greater or lesser degree, because humans visit.

Well I can`t remember any negativity up to beta 2

The negativity began when FD started backpedaling on their kickstarter promisses, DDF and dev diaries, and it became a norm after the lacklustre rushed release

 

[VR Golgot]

2 years is how long frontier takes to develop a new release. Are frontier planning what's next to be closer to elite 2 than horizons 2? That could be exciting.

If you mean the DLC could be meaty because of the dev run length? Then yeah, could be.

If you mean, like avow555 below here: Could it be a stand-alone title?

My thought is we will be getting sold Elite 5 next year for 40quid.
No more freebies for backers.

To that, FDev say nope

What does 'The Next Era' contain?
The Next Era update will be in-game content

LEP Content
The Next Era content will be paid for content and LEP owners will receive it as part of their pass.

EDIT: Although £40 is a good punt at the likely DLC price

 

[Crank Larson]

Well I can`t remember any negativity up to beta 2

Remind me, how many years ago was that?!

The negativity began when FD started backpedaling on their kickstarter promisses, DDF and dev diaries, and it became a norm after the lacklustre rushed release

If you say so. There are other opinions that I find more believable.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

There are things i would like FD to change, but I suspect not in the same way you want.

 

[Kubicide]

I've already asked this myself and I've found the answer preatty easy and clear.

With Horizons FDEV used the Season release model. So release pieces of a big updated little by little for 2 years.
Players hated this and the salt was flowing like water.

Braben concluded that the Season approach was not a good choice and he confirmed he would only release completed contents where these require money to be purchased.

So here we are. Instead of having a new Season we just have to wait when everything is ready

Lol... No. Total horse poop. The only one that didn't like the Season model was FDev because they couldn't deliver a true DLC in a year. That why they decided - without any input from the customer base - to stop it. But nice cheerleading job...

 

[Patrick_68000]

Lifetime Expansion Pass holders will receive next year's New Era paid-for update at no cost. It is also an update to the current game.

Normal. Lifetime Expansion Pass is for the life.

 

[VR Golgot]

Lol... No. Total horse poop. The only one that didn't like the Season model was FDev because they couldn't deliver a true DLC in a year. That why they decided - without any input from the customer base - to stop it. But nice cheerleading job...

Oh yeah, the poor initial uptake for Horizons was a ringing endorsement, and no disappointment was shown by the community at the fulsomeness of new features like Multicrew, Thargs etc.

How the hell have you turned this into a white knight thing?

If it helps, I didn't like the Season model. I thought it made for fractured design decisions and deliveries that didn't stack. A more cohesive 'all in one' delivery sounds like something I'd prefer as a consumer, in comparison to what we've had with Seasons.

But take that as a blind flailing defence of FDev if you like. Some how.

 

[Iskariot]

Was just thinking over a ciggy that it was strange that frontier have put elite in hybernation for 2 years..

Not True. They still release regular updates and organize activities.

yet its been announced that a development work is underway and will be coming in the distant future.

Not in the "distant" future, but next year.
But if next year seems like a distant future to you....

Having a team of 100 (tm) work on a project for that long in anyones measure would be a significant expense, and it seems initially strange that frontier are willing to let the base game freeze and fester in the meantime.. to maximize the chances of more sales, wouldn't it be in their interest to actually keep the game going, more so than it is, so that there's a greater audience for this large work when the time comes? A small roadmap of even one content patch per year could make all the difference...

I agree somewhat, or perhaps more than somewhat.
There are certain things that I think the game desperately needs and that could be implemented relatively easy.
For example:
I think the game is desperate for more diversity. How difficult would it be to add more station models to the game?
I think mining stations should have a distinctive mining vibe. Military stations should look like real military space fortresses. Prison stations should have a distinct model too etc.
I also think that Imperial space should have a different vibe to it with unique Imperial station designs, markedly different music when you enter imperial space etc.
Adding new station exteriors would do a lot for how we experience the Elite dangerous universe. At the moment it is too samey.

These things could be added with relatively little effort and would have a huge influence on the game. Game mechanics would not have to change.
Why FDev has not done this already is a mystery to me.

But then some far more interesting speculation became clear.. maybe frontier, as they sometimes do, did account for this and did it and made a conscious decision. Some random ideas:

• 2 years is how long frontier takes to develop a new release. Are frontier planning what's next to be closer to elite 2 than horizons 2? That could be exciting.
• etc.

I think the explanation for the long development time is much more straight forward.
I don't know what is going to be released, but if it is either Elite feet, or access to atmospheric planets and gas giants then it is obvious this takes a lot of development time.

Anyway.. just because frontier are a little dismaying with what they did to exploration...

What they did to exploration was great as far as I am concerned. They should have done it much sooner to prevent people getting used to the absence of exploration mechanics that was the honk-and-go mechanism. That was a total lack of gameplay. It is much better now. THe new mechanics make me feel like I am using astronomical tools to explore a new system,

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

I think i forgot to add one of the strongest points for speculation that space legs might be a thing closer to elite 2:

- To cut the cord with the older consoles. Anyone who plays on ps4 pro knows how barely okay the framerate is, and frontier with their only one set of assets might be wanting to keep the game visually competitive as a service, but are being prevented from doing so by the old consoles. Keeping the new era only running on the new era of console hardware would be a neat way to allow the game to keep evolving.

Actually.. that almost makes it a sure thing?

 

[VR Golgot]

I think i forgot to add one of the strongest points for speculation that space legs might be a thing closer to elite 2:

They may ditch older console support for the DLC sure. But ultimately, these quotes couldn't be clearer on whether it'll be a stand alone game....

What does 'The Next Era' contain?
The Next Era update will be in-game content

LEP Content
The Next Era content will be paid for content and LEP owners will receive it as part of their pass.

Looking like it's a DLC man. Just a big one

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

Looking like it's a DLC man. Just a big one

See im not convinced by those quotes at all. The first one is stating the obvious in frontier style legalese flatness, and they can give whatever they want to LEP owners to honor what was sold. Doesn't have to be the same game. There isn't a specific mention that it will be the same game

 

[VR Golgot]

See im not convinced by those quotes at all. The first one is stating the obvious in frontier style legalese flatness, and they can give whatever they want to LEP owners to honor what was sold. Doesn't have to be the same game. There isn't a specific mention that it will be the same game

'In-game content' is about as clear as FDev get. But ok, read it how you like . Wouldn't get your hopes up for a reboot tho.

 

[Cmdr Mander]

Is there a it would be bad for business reason why fdev can't give an indication as to what next years update is working towards?

If the resulting update doesn't meet the expectations/speculation/rumour which are caused by being secret squirrel then that surely can't be a good thing, can it?

 

[B1rdy]

Is there a it would be bad for business reason why fdev can't give an indication as to what next years update is working towards?

If the resulting update doesn't meet the expectations/speculation/rumour which are caused by being secret squirrel then that surely can't be a good thing, can it?

Current marketing often uses a time frame of about 6 months prior to release to announce new games or at least real marketing effort is being to within that time. This is a time frame that is supposed to not make potential customers forget about the product before it is released. It is also long enough to reach most of the potential players. Early announcements leave more room for speculation potentially leading to unrealistic expectations.

 

[CMDR Carbo]

Imho though I think a lot of these threads are a result of not knowing, being in the dark about what's gonna happen.
I think that Fdev's silence is fueling this trend, we don't know squat, and Fdev does nothing to reasure us.
To many speculations, expectations, assumptions are taking place without anything to substantiate any of them.
Fdev is only emphasising these expectations by promoting how excited they are with what they're working on and that it's groundbreaking, a new Era for ED even, without giving as much of a shred of information about what that might be.

I think it's not very reassuring because it's often used as an excuse by companies to keep customers at bay.
"We are working on something big but can't give you any information" to me just sound like
"Unfortunately we are very busy with other projects at the moment and have no immediate plans to implement new features in this software, but we may come back to it in a few months, so stay tuned."
I'm too old to believe in fairy tales. If you're working on "something big" but can't give me any information about it then I'm assuming you're just taking a sabbatical.

 

[Jools]

The forum really started its years long woe is me routine when Frontier came out and said they wouldn't be working on an offline mode for the game.

Frankly those who put the same amount of trust and faith in a company as they would a friend or family member are just asking to be dissapointed.

I`m a simple man, i see humble David in a jumper showing me Frontier:Elite 2 clips I pay

but somewhere along the road he ditched the jumpers for the suit and trendy glasses, just as he ditched a lot of features for a quick launch, new frenchises, and company growth... i still sometimes hope that it`s all part of a greater plan and he will refocus on Elite with all the new funds at hand, but i don`t believe it any more.

Silence on FDev`s part does not change a thing for me, after all that was said in newsletters, dev diaries, season announcements, all the various srv`s, bigger settlements and face melting stuff.... whatever they say now i can`t help but think that whatever sounds impressive will be cut and the other stuff will be delivered in some very simplistic way. Overall aesthetics (design wise) and sound are the only things keeping me here, i think i watch more screen shots than play All i can force myself to do in game is fly around some nice planet for a bit and alt+f4 soon after. FE2 even in its basic form still gives me more fun