This is what Maintenance Mode must be like :(

[Rat Catcher]

Aer you kidding me? imo NMS is the best example of a dissapointment of a game at launch come good.

IF ED 2020 does to ED what the last 4 years of updates have done for NMS then i think ED will be in a good place.

So do you consider this update an improvement?

Before Beyond:

Post Beyond:

Both taken from my planetary base...

If ED was 'improved graphically' this way would you still be really keen on playing?
I liked NMS pre-beyond... I went off it a little since (even VR is still a mess after multiple 'fixes') but maybe I'm a little too fussy.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

fair point I agree the draw distance LOD has been nerfed a bit which does suck... But i was thinking about actual gameplay.

And i would say the bugs which were in the game just after the recent release have been massively reduced now too.

 

[Rat Catcher]

fair point I agree the draw distance LOD has been nerfed a bit which does suck... But i was thinking about actual gameplay.

And i would say the bugs which were in the game just after the recent release have been massively reduced now too.

It is odd really, the nerfing of LoD and draw distance as Vulkan (as a replacement for OpenGL) is an amazing graphics engine.
Yes, additions & changes to gameplay post beyond are good, but the cost of the changes graphically don't equate to best use of Vulkan which is a shame! I keep dropping back into the game after each update, but am failing to remain engaged currently.

 

[Phongsalt]

To be fair, I’m not saying it’s dying. I’m saying it’s dead. Sure some people still play it but I can go play Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s not going anywhere. Just accept it and play it for what it is or do what many of us have done and move on.

I choose the former.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

It is odd really, the nerfing of LoD and draw distance as Vulkan (as a replacement for OpenGL) is an amazing graphics engine.
Yes, additions & changes to gameplay post beyond are good, but the cost of the changes graphically don't equate to best use of Vulkan which is a shame! I keep dropping back into the game after each update, but am failing to remain engaged currently.

I dont know why it would affect the settings of the flat game - because in theory it could have its own set of settings.... but i wonder if tsomewhere the blame lies with getting VR working at an acceptable rate, esp on the PS4?

like i said, in theory any nerf in the visuals in VR should not affect the flat game........ but perhaps it does due to the simplicity of minimising settings differences?

as a VR user for me that is a price well worth paying.... however that would suck if those on a monitor are having their experience spoiled by allowing VR.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I dont know why it would affect the settings of the flat game - because in theory it could have its own set of settings.... but i wonder if tsomewhere the blame lies with getting VR working at an acceptable rate, esp on the PS4?

like i said, in theory any nerf in the visuals in VR should not affect the flat game........ but perhaps it does due to the simplicity of minimising settings differences?

as a VR user for me that is a price well worth paying.... however that would suck if those on a monitor are having their experience spoiled by allowing VR.

Had they retained the OpenGL level of detail in Vulkan VR... well, I think they would have kept me in-game even more than ED! I'm tempted to agree about PSVR being the VR limitation for all, but even at 4K (above screenies) with maxxed out settings the graphics/draw distance differences are tiny.
I do feel that HG will pull a rabbit out of the hat, but like FD currently, will spend a bit of time managing it

 

[babelfisch]

I don't know guyz, take it as it is. More and more people are saying the game is dying... and the Will is nowhere to be seen contradicting anything or explaining or community managing actually. ( I love you Will ) Maybe its because they want the expectation to go as low as possible? That way when they come up with something somewhat good, it's going to look like a god given miracles...

Not really, the same handful of people is saying the game is dying. Since 2014.

 

[TheSynopticVision]

To be fair, I’m not saying it’s dying. I’m saying it’s dead. Sure some people still play it but I can go play Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s not going anywhere. Just accept it and play it for what it is or do what many of us have done and move on.

Some people still play this game? Move on!

 

[babelfisch]

I don’t think ‘New Era’ will ever happen. They can’t even do fleet carriers within 18 months of it’s original planned release. Wait for the next big space sim/mmo. Someone will definitely achieve it - just not going to be Frontier.

Maybe. The only question is what you are doing here.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Of course the game is dying, as are we from the day we are born...
But with luck and a fair wind we'll last a few years, and I hope ED does a few more too as there is still enough (even without FC's!) to do to keep me busy for a while - I just prioritized my play
( thought I'd keep to the Americanised spelling as that is the country we inherited such an odd concept from )

 

[Ignition]

Those in the age range of 12-27 I can understand acting in such a manner.
Those older than that... have no excuse.

It's not the end of the world or anything, it's a delay to fix issues that need fixed. It's just not possible to fix issues, add new content and new issues all at the same time.

So FD released a trailer in august (almost september) for a release in december. In october they decided to not release the content because now they will focus on fixing bugs for 8 months.
I don't see any logic in that.

 

[Ignition]

I just enjoy what we have and play ED when AI feel like it.

Having been around since Premium Beta days, I've learned to just ignore the hype and the criticism and just enjoy what we have today.

Sure, I'd like to see all the things everyone is talking about all the time, but it just isn't worth getting wound up about.

Just play

Of course, you need to endure the crap or there wouldn't be a game at all.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

So FD released a trailer in august (almost september) for a release in december. In october they decided to not release the content because now they will focus on fixing bugs for 8 months.
I don't see any logic in that.

I'm developing a new form of high-velocity magnetic launcher, due for release in January of 2020. According to my Gantt charts and schedules, I should be on target. Half-way through my initial production, I discover a flaw, a serious flaw. I call my buyers, who have invested in these already and I explain to them "Hey, I know I said January of 2020 for these, but I've discovered a serious issue. I need to fix this before I get these produced. Since you've already spent your money, I'll still deliver these, but they're going to be delayed. But this is better than having the user electrocuted trying to use them, right?"

If my buyers are sane and rational people, they'll agree. If they're this lot, they'll throw fits and bad-mouth me, because I want to deliver a reliable product.

 

[babelfisch]

So FD released a trailer in august (almost september) for a release in december. In october they decided to not release the content because now they will focus on fixing bugs for 8 months.
I don't see any logic in that.

That's pretty much what 'we' asked them to do. They probably would've done the same thing without the open letter though. That doesn't mean the decision isn't related to bugs / state of the game.
My guess: They have separate teams with 80 people working on the next era and 20 people working on current content and fixes. After the September mess top management intervened (maybe Braben himself) and told the smaller team to focus on bug fixing and stable releases rather than planned content. Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[Abysinth]

Fortunately, we had 'leaks,' At least, rumoured leaks, but they've looked pretty convincing. Also, remember the lightspeed removal of "buildings" from the Arx description in the web code that was so telling? The irony is that this 'confirms' the earlier leak about basebuilding which, as far as I can tell, was never something anyone seriously asked for anyway (again !).

I always hoped for base building, but in a completely different game set in the same universe as ED, perhaps Elite Grounded or something so we could interact with the ships and players in ED but not switch from one to the other without launching a new game.

 

[Mengy]

Sorry but I don't think that makes much sense. If they wanted the SLF to act like the SRV they could do it without effort. The reason the SLF are implemented that way is clearly a design decision and not an engine limitation.

It was a design decision, but one made due to FD wanting the SLF to be multicrew compatible. They couldn't implement the SLF like the SRV because if they had then you wouldn't be able to have one commander flying the main ship whle another flies the SLF. It's why SRV's aren't usable with multicrew, even though I'm sure FD would have liked them to be.

If 2020 is a core rebuild like I think it might be then we'll finally be seeing SRV's multiplayer and multicrew compatible due to first person gameplay being implemented.

 

[Jason Heik]

I'm developing a new form of high-velocity magnetic launcher, due for release in January of 2020. According to my Gantt charts and schedules, I should be on target. Half-way through my initial production, I discover a flaw, a serious flaw. I call my buyers, who have invested in these already and I explain to them "Hey, I know I said January of 2020 for these, but I've discovered a serious issue. I need to fix this before I get these produced. Since you've already spent your money, I'll still deliver these, but they're going to be delayed. But this is better than having the user electrocuted trying to use them, right?"

If my buyers are sane and rational people, they'll agree. If they're this lot, they'll throw fits and bad-mouth me, because I want to deliver a reliable product.

For the sake of argument, the only difference between your exemple and Frontier, is the fact that you called them to explain de situation. They told us bug fixing without explaining anything. And we know how the gaming business works, so we know that maintenance means either they are truthfull or not and expect the game to die off.

 

[Old Duck]

I'm in maintenance mode - I'm playing Space Engineers

 

[IndigoWyrd]

For the sake of argument, the only difference between your exemple and Frontier, is the fact that you called them to explain de situation. They told us bug fixing without explaining anything. And we know how the gaming business works, so we know that maintenance means either they are truthfull or not and expect the game to die off.

Unless there's something wrong with my reading comprehension:

[...]
However, we know there's more to be done. You've asked for more focus on existing bug/fixes and issues, and for the community to be better integrated into the development process and testing for these upcoming updates.

In order to improve your overall experience, we have decided to refocus our efforts on addressing key issues and bugs. Since the launch of the September Update, we've been taking a deeper look at our internal development roadmap, the way in which we utilise public betas, and the content of our next updates.

Here is a summary of our plans:

• From now and into next year (2020), the updates will focus almost exclusively on addressing recent and longstanding issues, including those reported in the Issue Tracker, ultimately making the game better.
• We are expecting to have a series of these updates, which will be rolled out (approximately) every three to four months.
• Each update will also include a public beta that will run prior to the update's release, with a dedicated time to address major issues that appear.
• The first of these updates will have its public beta in December, with an expectation that the launch will be early in 2020.

As a result of our updated plans, we have made the difficult decision to defer the release of Fleet Carriers. We are now planning for Fleet Carriers to be released in an update in the second quarter of 2020, rather than in December 2019 as previously stated. This will grant us additional time to refine the feature as well as focusing time on addressing existing reported issues. It will also ensure the state of the game is in a better position to introduce Fleet Carriers, that will provide Commanders even more opportunities to interact with the Milky Way. We understand that this delay will be disappointing for some players, but do know that this decision is one that we do not take lightly, and is made with the best interests of the community and game at heart.
[...]

This sounds like they did call us - all of us, right here, in these forums, explained they've heard us complaining about all the bugs, heard us cry out they should simply stop everything and fix these before they pile more features on top and make things worse, and they've listened.

Ever hear "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it"? We got it.

 

[babelfisch]

For the sake of argument, the only difference between your exemple and Frontier, is the fact that you called them to explain de situation. They told us bug fixing without explaining anything. And we know how the gaming business works, so we know that maintenance means either they are truthfull or not and expect the game to die off.

So you are saying all the stuff about having people working on the 2020 release is a lie? How does that make sense?