Development Update 1 - June

[nemolomen]

Never.
Gonna.
Happen.

I purchased the Alpha deluxe version and have clocked up a fair number of hours already (though a good few of frustration/bewilderment) so I won't request a refund now.

Having said that - if Frontier would offer me one (they won't I'm sure) I think I would actually take them up on it.

I'm in the same boat as you regarding having purchased the Alpha Deluxe, though I never played the Alpha.

I've decided to reserve judgement on whether or not I would actually want a refund depending on just how much of the game-play is still broken after Patch 5 releases and I play it for a couple of days.

Mostly, my gripe regarding Odyssey revolves around Odyssey missions and trading:

a) Having accepted on foot missions in the concourse for the current system and finding out after the fact that the current system only has 1 body (the star) and a station. So, nowhere to land to take out the faction members required by the mission.

b) In the Commodity Market of a Station, Planetary Port or Horizons Settlement, getting suggested selling markets at Odyssey Settlements, where you cannot sell cargo because there is no Commodity Market in an Odyssey settlement. Guess how I know, go ahead, guess.

c) Accepted a mission for picking up an item at an empty settlement. Except the settlement wasn't empty, and when I was walking around with no weapons, because "no weapon zone", I missed a scan and now I'm wanted in that entire system. Couldn't fight back without weapons so I just left to go to my next mission. Extermely hard to earn reputation and influence that way when the mission fails and counts against you for reputation and influence.

d) I'm sure there are other mission problems that I just haven't encountered yet.

Another thing that just barely came up: Last night I made my first Elite rank, in Trading, with a total trading profit of 864 Mil CR. Today my brother-in-law made Elite in Trading with a total trading profit of 665 Mil CR. I'm not sure if this is a) normal and takes other things into account that are not included in the "Trading Profit" number, b) a bug in Odyssey (I checked in Horizons afterwards and it confirmed my Elite status and total trading profit) or c) is this some mad scheme to let more people have Elite status, by lowering the requirement, so they're "more happy/less angry" with the game (I hope not, and I doubt it, but I'm really not sure at this point).

Anyway, after patch 5 is dropped, if the bugs I mentioned above are still there, I'm going to add them to the issue tracker since I can't find anything even remotely close in it, unless I'm just not searching properly.

o7

 

[beatwaster]

FTFY

Dude, from the next office they were informed about the improvement of 4 developers who work on computers of the latest configuration. They are gamers too. This fact gives him the right to report "Some" players say that it is better.

All this idle chatter stinks of dog excrement.

 

[J1mb0b666]

No new info.... No detail....

 

[AtomicJuggler]

People play Star Citizen - that isn't a reasonable game either. Happy days for you if you enjoy it. I'm telling Frontier that I believe that releasing it was an error and that it makes no sense in a universe building context. All they have done is release an extremely poor facsimile of an FPS game in boring and repetitive instances which add nothing to lore, environment or a feeling of population. It is like they have just created these FPS arenas that you drop into for some pew pew and that is frankly crap.

My reply was not about your legitimate anger about the game, but about you wishing to rollback EDO.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I had that impression also - pretty much the same as the "roadmap" that arrived at 17:00 - although it may have been multiple reads & re-drafts that slowed this one.

Yeah, could be. Maybe legal had to take another look just to be safe lol.

Sorry, the tactic makes some sense - 30-odd pages now, probably 80-odd by tomorrow and all saying pretty much the same - there was nothing they could sensibly do today to smooth over the content they posted.

Yeah, I guess it does, you're right.

I agree, 100%, that there was nothing of substance to encourage players, quite the opposite in fact.

The only useful content it had was found between the lines unfortunately. Better than zero I suppose.

I would too, for both copies, without asking any questions.

That isn't to say that I dislike Odyssey - I've been able to play with useable FPS by reducing my screen resolution and changing a few detail settings - so have had, and am having, a ball playing surface content.

But (and there always is a but!), alpha was better looking, more stable and in general better performing than the released product.
The released product feels unfinished, and the CMs are hinting toward content coming out around console launch, despite the PC product allegedly being 'complete'. This is not what I was under the impression I was buying, I'm not best pleased.

I'm enjoying it also sometimes (when it doesn't frustrate me endlessly), but there's too many moments where I think "I'd probably be happier just sticking to Horizons instead"; and that gets the new planet tech eventually anyways, for good or bad.

The DLC feels very bare-bones, it shot most of my cosmetics which I hold dear (I'm sure you noticed!) to pieces, the game simply looks and runs better in Horizons and the Feet stuff is so 100% ring-fenced it doesn't really feel like the larger, meatier game I was expecting when I bought it - it feels like two separate entities in the same sandbox.

I don't see the longevity in it for me, although I would re-purchase it in the future if more content were added - which, apart from Thargoid Feet perhaps, doesn't seem to be coming. Not even a second SRV which I was kind of hoping for until recently.

 

[bm01]

Indeed. I'd honestly hoped for more with Odyssey.

What I meant is that for CIG's business model to work and to keep people interested, they have to constantly make promises and tease people about the next big thing. In a way, that's what that post here is about, they're trying to keep us interested in the game, giving us something to chew on before we start rioting in the streets... Except what we have to chew on is "Pathways have been identified to improve this and a team is actively working on this area." CIG at least has nice jpegs. Now I'm not asking for false and empty promises of course, but there should be a world where they could make promises and deliver them.

 

[myarch]

Hypothetical question:
If frontier said, we’re running another Kickstarter for ship interiors or weather effects etc insert your dreams here…. Would you fund it to allow them to get more developers onboard and accelerate development.

I know I would. I’d be interested if others would too. I didn’t track the original kick starter so not sure if these things were covered in stretch goals or not.

If I trusted them, yes I would. However, the trust is gone. Sad really...

 

[Dagwit]

Well, I've managed to read all thirty-two pages of this thread and am neither wiser nor better informed. (Except about the Shield Strength Counter addition. That's cool.)

I have indeed lost faith in Frontier's ability to reliably develop Elite Dangerous further, but that happened in early 2018. I'm not letting it stop me enjoying the things about the game that I do still enjoy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to fly out to Sothis/Ceos for a bit of Robigo Mining. Those BC, EFC and MEF won't farm themselves!

 

[JosiahD]

Given that FDev is quite busy with other big projects as well, Occam's Razor dictates that this is the most plausible explanation. Well, at least there are no plans they are ready to talk about yet. We will just have to wait. I can wait a little longer.

And FDEV would have been banking on Odyssey at least working, and well received, tiding the playerbase over so they could focus on the console release before then switching focus to what's next. Oh where we might be right now had Odyssey gone smoothly on release....sigh...

For mine, the OP update is much appreciated, but yes, the future roadmap section is underwhelming given what many are looking for now is light at the end of the tunnel, validation that the things they're asking for (whether that be thicker atmosphere planets, ship interiors, powerplay improvements, base building, EVA or whatever) has been listened to and is on the radar. I too can wait for a later dev update for such roadmap clarity, but I wonder if it is wise for FDEV to keep their future plan cards so close to their chest given the current sentiment within much of the playerbase.....

 

[beatwaster]

Guys, this is all one big deception.
Look at the work of the PR department. This is not the level of a company doing serious business.

This is the level of the weird office where the salespeople work. They lie in your eyes, cleverly selling you a vacuum cleaner that breaks down the next day.
You try to call the company, and there you are greeted by a pleasant female voice, which says that for now, all the repairmen are busy, and asks you to call back later.
But if you went to such a company, you would find that there is not a single repairman in it. There are 10 salespeople and 150 girls on the phone who are engaged in stitching off annoying people with broken vacuum cleaners.
And the main task of this company is to sell a large batch of knowingly broken vacuum cleaners.

 

[MASA]

That's not completely true.

There’s no doubt that the additional development work on these updates and community requests pose a challenge on our previous plans and timelines

seems to suggest that we should expect a delay for the console release; and the inclusion of community requests there looks a lot like "and it's your fault for wanting stuff".

Does kind of read like this, yes.

 

[MacIntoc]

Thanks for this clear explanation

In the medium term, will you be thinking about the possibility of having dedicated full time teams on bug fixing and trivial improvements of the game as well as on the maintenance and optimisation of the graphics engine ?

 

[Ereshkigal]

Believe me, we are players too, we share the same frustrations. It would have been great had they been able to release the post earlier but, it was released when it could be.

Was there some specific reason it was released when it was? We’re they waiting for specific info, or someone to sign off on it, or some such? Genuinely curious, as the wording here implies something like that?

 

[Rat Catcher]

I'm enjoying it also sometimes (when it doesn't frustrate me endlessly), but there's too many moments where I think "I'd probably be happier just sticking to Horizons instead"; and that gets the new planet tech eventually anyways, for good or bad.

The DLC feels very bare-bones, it shot most of my cosmetics which I hold dear (I'm sure you noticed!) to pieces, the game simply looks and runs better in Horizons and the Feet stuff is so 100% ring-fenced it doesn't really feel like the larger, meatier game I was expecting when I bought it - it feels like two separate entities in the same sandbox.

I don't see the longevity in it for me, although I would re-purchase it in the future if more content were added - which, apart from Thargoid Feet perhaps, doesn't seem to be coming. Not even a second SRV which I was kind of hoping for until recently.

Because I can run Odyssey, I've only dropped to Horizons twice since launch, the first to compare the same body in both, and to bring my FC to the bubble from Colonia (to get acquainted with the foot engineers, and pick up some pre-engineered kit) so am quite 'at home' with Odyssey, warts & all, but wish that it just didn't push my GPU quite so hard on foot!

Lighting is poop, likewise most of my PJs & decals are now bland (Lunar Hunter is pathetic in Odyssey - no emissive property at all) and even the Odyssey Raider suit colours are muted in comparison to the store! (Wonder if they will look any different tomorrow?)

I'm doing the foot content just because I find it fun, so won't bleat too much about it, although am happy to rant about stupid requirements for engineering, made even worse in the DLC than the main game!

I imagine Surface Thargoid CZs will appear after (if?) the console version releases... but won't hold my breath.

So, yes, I'm happy playing Odyssey as it does scratch the right itch for me, but there is so much amiss with what has been delivered which detracts from th eoverall experience.

Being told that the issues with planetary tech are 'challenging' and being given no idea when, or if, those issues will be resolved doesn't inspire much confidence either, particularly as we were led to believe the final version was to be so much better than the alpha...

 

[thistle]

And FDEV would have been banking on Odyssey at least working, and well received, tiding the playerbase over so they could focus on the console release before then switching focus to what's next. Oh where we might be right now had Odyssey gone smoothly on release....sigh...

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I'm in the same boat as you regarding having purchased the Alpha Deluxe, though I never played the Alpha.

I've decided to reserve judgement on whether or not I would actually want a refund depending on just how much of the game-play is still broken after Patch 5 releases and I play it for a couple of days.

Mostly, my gripe regarding Odyssey revolves around Odyssey missions and trading:

a) Having accepted on foot missions in the concourse for the current system and finding out after the fact that the current system only has 1 body (the star) and a station. So, nowhere to land to take out the faction members required by the mission.

b) In the Commodity Market of a Station, Planetary Port or Horizons Settlement, getting suggested selling markets at Odyssey Settlements, where you cannot sell cargo because there is no Commodity Market in an Odyssey settlement. Guess how I know, go ahead, guess.

c) Accepted a mission for picking up an item at an empty settlement. Except the settlement wasn't empty, and when I was walking around with no weapons, because "no weapon zone", I missed a scan and now I'm wanted in that entire system. Couldn't fight back without weapons so I just left to go to my next mission. Extermely hard to earn reputation and influence that way when the mission fails and counts against you for reputation and influence.

d) I'm sure there are other mission problems that I just haven't encountered yet.

Another thing that just barely came up: Last night I made my first Elite rank, in Trading, with a total trading profit of 864 Mil CR. Today my brother-in-law made Elite in Trading with a total trading profit of 665 Mil CR. I'm not sure if this is a) normal and takes other things into account that are not included in the "Trading Profit" number, b) a bug in Odyssey (I checked in Horizons afterwards and it confirmed my Elite status and total trading profit) or c) is this some mad scheme to let more people have Elite status, by lowering the requirement, so they're "more happy/less angry" with the game (I hope not, and I doubt it, but I'm really not sure at this point).

Anyway, after patch 5 is dropped, if the bugs I mentioned above are still there, I'm going to add them to the issue tracker since I can't find anything even remotely close in it, unless I'm just not searching properly.

o7

Hearing about those things that is also not really working is pretty discouraging alright - I haven't even really tried those things and god knows what else is broken that I'd probably come across at some point and for how long.

Just on the Elite rank though, I think the issue you might have is that selling to a FC doesn't contribute to rank - too easy to exploit otherwise. Could be the reason for the discrepancy in numbers.

 

[CMDR Star Lord]

Again secrets and not being sure what will come in the future.. well hope those monthly updates will have some good news right?

 

[PRORABBIT67]

 

[Winterdyne]

What I meant is that for CIG's business model to work and to keep people interested, they have to constantly make promises and tease people about the next big thing. In a way, that's what that post here is about, they're trying to keep us interested in the game, giving us something to chew on before we start rioting in the streets... Except what we have to chew on is "Pathways have been identified to improve this and a team is actively working on this area." CIG at least has nice jpegs. Now I'm not asking for false and empty promises of course, but there should be a world where they could make promises and deliver them.

Well, for my part like I said, it's taken CIG five years - FIVE YEARS - to get the ship I paid for into game. Admittedly, it's now much, much prettier, bigger, and shinier than the one I thought I was buying, but still, a long time. I don't mind the wait, and I'll get to play space trucker (or space white-van-man) in it soon enough.

Anyway, I don't think the promises of either CR or DB are necessarily empty or false, but SC's had significantly more transparent dev work going on since the outset - sure, it's not always been what people wanted to be developed*, but at least you knew they were doing something. FDev's 'man behind the curtain' act is getting very stale when what comes out is as borked and plain... unimpressive as Odyssey. After three years.

I've always been of the mind that Elite and SC approach the same target from different methods. I don't think either works particularly well in the scheme of things. Perhaps they should (both) move closer. Elite needs to push a bit more, be a bit more open with their plans. SC needs to get some things actually done and stop tweaking.

*: I could rant about it, but there's no point.

 

[pattern9]

dead game