Odyssey trailer - thoughts?

[Arioch]

Yes! Something along the lines of being in a Med CZ in my all multi-FDL and realising I'm out of synths when engaging Spec Ops Beta & Alpha....

I look forward to the tail end of a base assault when suddenly running out of ammo requires an impression of Graham Chapman and the rest of the Pythons -

“Run Away!! Run Away!!”

 

[Winterwalker]

I do wonder if that would also recharge/restock your ammo when it comes to energy weapons... hmmm.

It's tricky to unpack what's going on exactly without having hands on the demo but I think the energy weapon is using new clips for "ammo" (a battery from your previous post) rather than drawing on suit power isn't it?

The shield definitely is using suit power (which is less than 100% on both players) but it does look to me like the shield is the only draw when firing the weapon ... maybe someone analysed it more carefully than me though.

(No idea where the jetpack energy is coming from, even though there does seem to be a sound coinciding with the jump. Could be a coincidental sound, could be don't know where the jet is drawing power from. Again tricky to unpack. This demo raises more questions than answers!!! hehe)

 

[Linnunrata]

I think its adorable people are running over each other to claim its DOA or it doesn’t compare well to other FPS titles.

I agree it's unfair to declare it DOA or not comparing favourably to modern true FPSes. Personally I'm just worried that it looks generic, clunky and bad AI which means the same thing as with SRVs - stuff that is there, but I never do because it's just uninspiring.

Dunno, perhaps they pull it through and the combat will be fun. If not, I'll settle just walking around on planetary surfaces.

 

[Winterwalker]

I look forward to the tail end of a base assault -

“Run Away!! Run Away!!”

If it's good enough for the devs!
(sorry one community manager and a QA guy)

 

[Bigmaec]

It needs a lot more improvement:

1. The NPCs don't act smart, don't seek cover.
2. Lack of cover options makes the combat too simplistic (see Mass Effect).
3. NPCs absorb bullets like sponges. That's not fun tactical FPS combat (check Call of Duty, Battlefield, Escape from Tarkov, PUBG).
4. No cool interaction with the ship such as calling an elevator, escalator or walk up stairs to the door.
5. The Goliath was not a threat, they ran right past it.
6. The base turrets didn't work
7. The sneaking around seemed to be unnecessary. Is there a sneak/detection system (see Metal Gear Solid, Deus Ex)?
8. No melee weapons is a pity
9. How much variety is there for base mission scenarios?
10. Add a transparency option to the HUD, in-game color customization.
11. Add a prone option
12. It's weird how the piloted ship could land near the base (7:20) without being bombarded by anti-ship weaponry.
13. There should be NPC patrols around the base.
14. Poor anti-aliasing dates the graphics a lot
15. What about civilian NPC traffic around the base? Such as SRVs, NPCs walking around, ships landing and taking off. Let NPCs scan rocks, excavate stuff, move cargo, chit-chat etc. Each NPC should have a schedule with errands, chores. Add a barracks to provide NPC sleeping quarters. This is important to make the world feel alive.
16. Footprints aren't visible in the sand.
17. Walking animations should be improved.
18. The base needs large banners, holograms to distinguish it and to show who operates it.
19. Didn't see any new SRVs to protect the base.

20. Didn't see Panther Clipper.

The pilot of the getaway ship had no bounty - so was still 'innocent' - good tactic in my opinion

It makes no sense though. It's like a certain diplomatic mission to Alderaan. They have been caught, and yet no instant bounty on the ship.

Ouch. You hold onto that feeling for as long as you can, if it helps you cope. I’m sure you’re right - Frontier will turn this around in six months - they’re known for working fast.

Yup. As all the other additions that got fixed. multicrew powerplay cough cough

It seeme like there's a fair bit of complete misunderstanding of what the mission shown on the stream was, which has lead to some pretty silly 'criticisms'. This looked like a 'mostly harmless' mission to deactivate the power on a nil-security, neutral surface installation, guarded by a bunch of Paul Blarts who ran away as soon as they took a hit.

I think we already know that this entry level stuff is necessary (not everyone is an experienced pilot, let alone marksman), and we already know that ship based missions & combat cover the full spectrum from Mostly Harmless to Thargoid

Should we judge the ship combat opportunities in ED based on the difficulty level of being attacked by a Harmless pirate in a Viper at a High Res site? Or ship based mission complexity based on a Harmless data scan mission froma a public data source at an undefended settlement?

And yet allegedly they died several times. Hmmm.

Where are people getting this idea that "NPC level" has anything to do with how braindead the AI behaves? Those little numbers represent their security clearances; ie what level doors and facilities they can access, not their IQs.

Let's hope you're wrong.

Everybody is whining about the level of polish being shown on something in an early alpha stage that's been in development for a couple years.

Why don't you go watch a Star Citizen Livestream and report back to this thread. Star Marine module has been in development for what.... 6 years and is still in early alpha?

It's gonna be released in three months. And the 'alpha' was usually called beta in the last seasons and FDs track record on fixing stuff from beta to release isn't stellar.

Which makes me wonder, if I want to showcase my game, would I set difficulty levels at the lowest possible level that would impress nobody/make people drop to some of the above conclusions?

If I can't compete with higher difficulties, it's propably wise. Still waiting for some CM PvP videos by the way.

Surely you would set the difficulty level at one where you would be likely to complete the mission?
Possibly exactly what the CMs did?

Maybe. Let's hope so.

Definitely not at this stage. Sorry to break it to people but this is Elite Feet 1.0 and not only is it on a similar scale to other entire titles, it's being fitted into - and has to mesh with - an existing game. When you're doing things like that, it's about installing the basic game levers and trying not to break the rest of the game while you do it. Learning to walk before you try to run.

Stuff like AI behaviour is a trivial balance issue compared with integrating the new vehicles (player feet) into the control bindings, player logs and codex, making sure they and NPC's don't fall through the floor, know where the walls are and developing everything from the HUD to the backpack. Get it in, get it working, enjoy the fact you can land from a neutron jump and worry about polishing the AI next, once game breaking database bugs have been ironed out.

It's a big +1 to the devs from me.

Oh and if AI isn't perfect on day one and people are worried about marketing, think about the long haul. If the title continues to improve and 'despite a shaky start' ends up a grand FPS then people will want to play it, even if they weren't ready to buy on release day.

I hope you're right.

I hope this is how they scale. However, I'm tempering my expectations because this is not how they currently scale. NPCs in the game we have follow the same basic patterns regardless of rank; they just perform them quicker, with better tools, as their rank gets higher.

+1

meh - i've never really been all that interested in the FPS aspects - I just want the blue skies and better looking planets tbh - the parts that can be enjoyed in VR

My biggest concern is that the bugs that have gone unaddressed now for years are likely never to be corrected - because adding more content just means adding to the scope of what the developers need to maintain. And if they didn't have the time to fix thins before all the new content gets added there's no chance of them having time afterwards... So Anaconda repair limpets, thargoid heart bug and other such bugs - most likely here to stay

that said i did preorder alpha access so maybe i'll get more enthused in a few weeks when the alpha drops

+1 this is my greatest fear. They will can most efforts on the base game for the forseeable future.

It gives me zero pleasure to voice my negative observations believe me - I want Odyssey to be a roaring success but based on what we've seen I'm becoming increasingly sceptical.

Also the point some here seem to be missing is that the issue isn't about seeing ropey pre-Alpha footage, but the timing of it i.e. less than 3 months before the finished (lol) product is scheduled to be released. That has me genuinely worried about getting a bit of a trainwreck instead of a (at least visually) slick DLC, which I sort of took for granted until last week.

This. It's 3 months to release. All this Alpha talk reminds me of that other space game. Now go buy an Idris!

 

[Linnunrata]

They have been caught, and yet no instant bounty on the ship.

Maybe they didn't get the license plate.

 

[Rat Catcher]

It makes no sense though. It's like a certain diplomatic mission to Alderaan. They have been caught, and yet no instant bounty on the ship.

Maybe they didn't get the license plate.

Sadly we didn't get the HUD from the getaway ship in the trailer: What we really don't know is if the bounty appeared the moment the first of the 'filthy perps' beamed aboard... (mainly, I suppose, because when he 'made his escape' the other 2 appeared to have been left behind)

Up until the first of the wingmates were aboard the ship should have remained clean... Unless my memory of playing with Jellicoe & shooting SysSec winged up had him getting a bounty before I did - dammit, I was slower aiming than he

 

[Linnunrata]

Well we all know that the black Challenger will be found gutted and burnt from some remote canyon and the stolen cylinder of Toffee Crisps nowhere to be seen.

 

[Winterwalker]

Dunno, perhaps they pull it through and the combat will be fun. If not, I'll settle just walking around on planetary surfaces.

That's the key isn't it. I've never had more fun in FPS than Dredd vs Death (I'm a simple soul) and the graphics are pretty terrible (though arguably in a self aware way), the mechanics simple, the play linear. Funny graffiti and even funnier one liners though, and add on a load of jump scares and you're having masses of fun. AI and graphics are ultimately irrelevant as long as it's fun and great AI or fab graphics don't necessarily make it so.

With you on the exploration too. I forsee myself doing some pretty thorough survival testing before drawing a gun.

 

[Winterwalker]

Maybe they didn't get the license plate.

I wondered if the ship might need to be scanned .. illegal (human) cargo detected?

 

[Rat Catcher]

I think one of my favourite FPS games in the recent past was Serious Sam VR: BFE.. Yes, it is a wave shooter, but stupidly fun..

 

[Linnunrata]

That's the key isn't it. I've never had more fun in FPS than Dredd vs Death (I'm a simple soul) and the graphics are pretty terrible (though arguably in a self aware way), the mechanics simple, the play linear.

Sure.
It's just that - I don't know about you - but frankly I'm much more demanding as a gamer nowadays. While I agree that making comparisons to other FPSes is a tad bit unfair especially since EDO isn't just the FPS combat, but speaking of FPSes, Steam is full of generic shooters that would've been great fun back in the 00s, but I have no intention of buying them now.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

If I can't compete with higher difficulties, it's propably wise. Still waiting for some CM PvP videos by the way.

Suppose it's a matter of opinion in terms of what impresses you. I couldn't care less about backtracking gameplay as a result of the AI relentlessly flanking and outsmarting the CMs, it would certainly get me more pumped and excited than a cakewalk like the one we've been presented.

Others will see it differently so I'll just leave it at that and cross my fingers that the AI either gets more work, or it really is Harmless level, and that AI difficulty doesn't merely mean more health and damage points (fwiw that's what I think is exactly what we're going to get).

On a more positive note, I watched OA's summary and he mentioned that these bases are actually proc-gen'd - that puts them in a new light in my book and I'm more impressed now how naturally they blend in with the remaining environment. I also think the planet surface looks good, though I'm really curious to see icy worlds.

If they can sort out the AI and more importantly (I like my visuals!) the animations then my concerns will be quelled, at least when it comes to the FPS element of Odyssey. Fears over neglecting the rest of the areas Odyssey is supposed to bring (such as exploration, and I'm not even the hardcore explorer type) remain intact.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Well we all know that the black Challenger will be found gutted and burnt from some remote canyon and the stolen cylinder of Toffee Crisps nowhere to be seen.

Crusader

It's funny how many people mix up the Alliance ships (not having a go at you but you're far from the only one), and it's an easy mistake to make, but the winglets at the rear are the giveaway - just goes to show that nobody is flying it haha.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Crusader

It's funny how many people mix up the Alliance ships (not having a go at you but you're far from the only one), and it's an easy mistake to make, but the winglets at the rear are the giveaway - just goes to show that nobody is flying it haha.

I have 2 Challengers (shut up!) and still wouldn't be able to pick them out on an Identity Parade of the 3...

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I work at one of the large gamepublishers and developers in the industry and for the games I worked on, Alpha was about 2-3 month old branch that got polished until 1 month ahead of Alpha release.

EDIT: After that it was just major (as in gamebreaking) bugfixes and no polish at all. And that could stretch for 2 weeks before Alpha. Then it was locked, while the meat of the game had 2-3 months of additional content/polish done when the alpha was released for public.

Since you seem to be in the know, this is something I've wondered since the roadmap was announced for Odyssey - isn't there normally a Beta after the Alpha or is it a more common approach in the industry now to skip Betas?

Genuine question, cheers.

 

[Linnunrata]

just goes to show that nobody is flying it haha.

True.
I actually thought whether I should check which ship it was before posting...

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I have 2 Challengers (shut up!) and still wouldn't be able to pick them out on an Identity Parade of the 3...

I have both the Chally and the Chief on my main account, while I tried the Crusader as my single ship (due to the SLF, and its looks, and because it's only slightly more popular than the Asp Scout) on my alt account for a while. It's pretty awful compared to the other but looks damn good in Stygian Red (and even better in black in the video, but then MNB looks good on all ships)... I'd still pick the FGS over it though all things considered.

 

[Arindor]

At least the pre-alpha trailer didn't show a Cobra Mk IV. That certainly would have set the cat among the pigeons.

 

[Winterwalker]

It's just that - I don't know about you - but frankly I'm much more demanding as a gamer nowadays. While I agree that making comparisons to other FPSes is a tad bit unfair especially since EDO isn't just the FPS combat, but speaking of FPSes, Steam is full of generic shooters that would've been great fun back in the 00s, but I have no intention of buying them now.

Yeah of course, and I'm not enough of a game connoisseur really to judge (get it? ;p) but I think ED does have a secret weapon on that front, which is the rest of the galaxy. Pretty difficult to be a 'generic' shooter I think when you've got 400 billion star systems, a bunch of Fuel Rats looking to fill niches in the mechanics and existing faction groups ready to go in hard for expansion efforts behind you?

Possibly even, if your main job to date has been pilot, it's going to take you a little time to get into being a proper good commando, in terms of crawling through tunnels and sharp shooter moves? I definitely don't mind if that sort of thing develops over time .. even though I really do think it is fairer to devs to remember this is a patch to existing and not an FPS built on a green field site.