Whatever it is you replace it with, it will still be arbitrary...
This exactly
It got a name because of its distance.
I think you're confusing TRAVEL with EXPLORATION
- Thread starter Shiro Akai
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It got a name because of its distance.
Put your faith in our Lord and Savior, RNGesus, and let him pick your non-arbitrary destination.
Elite Dangerous is without a doubt one of the best exploration games out there, and there honestly isn't many games that could be seriously classed better when it comes to exploration.
However, a superior exploration experience can be had in Space Engine - where travel time isn't even a factor.
However, a superior exploration experience can be had in Space Engine - where travel time isn't even a factor.
Might as well make it infinite then.
Jump distance may be arbitrary, destinations are not.
Space Engine is really pretty. As game, it's 100% lacking, but as a screen shot generator, it's second to none.
Thats not even a game.
Or keep it as it is, which will prolly happen.
How can you even have a destination without a journey?
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I'd agree that ED is one of the better space exploration games today, yet I wish Frontier would focus on more untapped potential. It could be the absolute best exploration game if Frontier wanted it to be, it has that potential in its foundation.
I also do wish travel in Elite Dangerous was more, well, dangerous. More involved than it currently is from a game mechanics point of view.
Telepresence at the moment of arrival.
Yep there is not much to see in Beagle Point besides sky towards galaxy. It is the arduous journey which makes it special.This exactly
Sea of brown dwarves making you worry about your fuel, blackness of the Abyss, bright seas of stars near Core and so on and on...
We can say the same for Hutton Orbital... except for the Free Anaconda, but that's a different matter.
Academic exploration and exploratory simulation are two very different things though, Ant. What Elite gives us is an opportunity to do the whole thing. We buy the ship. We rig it up. We plot the course. We scan the body. We descend and land. It's an experience, which is what all exploration ultimately is.
And only if you think exploring is the only aspect of the game. Which it isn't. Its got named after a combat rank 30 years ago.
Well, exploration is unarguably not the only thing you can do in Elite.
But this is a thread about travel and exploration.
I don't think that is the issue the OP has. It seems to me that they are suggesting that all the repetitive jumping in-between those things might be a problem.
Which are two very different things. I can travel across the US from New York to California, but to actually Explore that range of distance, to observe, record and study what I see along the way, these are very different things.
Ozric
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I guess if you don't want a narrative to a game I could see why you'd think that. I mean it's almost like other games don't use quests to make you earn something. Why can't you just have all the best gear straight away?
im a sailor here, many ocean crossings and northern latitudes too, ED isn't sailing though, its far from it
ED is a loading screen where i press Y over and over again, i would compare it to locking yourself into a dark room for 56 days with zero stimulus and then being released and allowed to go do what you set out to achieve, a sailing journey it certainly is not, every-time i arrive somewhere no matter how awful the weather was i cant wait to go out sailing again.
Well, I'm sort of torn on this. I had an "argument" with another poster about this in the carrier thread about whether increased jump ranges further trivialize travel in Elite. While the journey is indeed important, because it's part of the simulation process, I feel like constraining it isn't doing Elite's galaxy any favors. It's wonderful to imagine the hundreds of years it will take for all of it to be mapped, and its size and grandeur are part of the spectacle that motivates us to get out there, but I can't help but feel like easing our passage into the deepest regions of space is a good thing. But I do understand his point about earning your place out there.
1000ly jumps wouldn't be the end of the world, nor will 500ly jumps. In fact, I don't even think they'd make a lick of difference. If you play this game in the bubble, it isn't even an issue. And if you don't, I honestly can't see how having one more mechanism that enables you to delve deep into the Milky Way is a problem.
The really interesting thing about this, is that even if the game had an infinite jump range, it wouldn't decrease the time it will take to fully explore the galaxy. The galaxy simply has too many start systems, therefore it would still take hundreds of years.
Personally, I'd like to see jump range increased dramatically. I'd also change Super Cruise...make it so that navigating close to the central star is fast, but the further out you go the longer it takes. Net Result: Deep Space Exploration is still a thing, and takes a long time to get far from a star. Meanwhile travel times are still quick where they need to be. Then add a number of game mechanics such as a fog of war to the galaxy map as well as a bunch of things further out in all star systems. There's plenty of ways to go with this.
I like that supercuise idea. What you're suggesting draws somewhat from the principals governing solar electric propulsion wherein the performance of electric (ion) thrusters relies on solar proximity and photovoltaic storage.The really interesting thing about this, is that even if the game had an infinite jump range, it wouldn't decrease the time it will take to fully explore the galaxy. The galaxy simply has too many start systems, therefore it would still take hundreds of years.
Personally, I'd like to see jump range increased dramatically. I'd also change Super Cruise...make it so that navigating close to the central star is fast, but the further out you go the longer it takes. Net Result: Deep Space Exploration is still a thing, and takes a long time to get far from a star. Meanwhile travel times are still quick where they need to be. Then add a number of game mechanics such as a fog of war to the galaxy map as well as a bunch of things further out in all star systems. There's plenty of ways to go with this.
And yeah, as far as I can tell, the only reason to oppose increasing jump ranges would be because you believe that the time it takes you to get out there is part of the challenge; that it may trivialize the efforts of those who have slogged through the void without the benefit of those ranges. I sort of understand this, but also, I don't.