I think I'm using the word engine wrongly. You're right really that it is an SRV with legs, though avatar interaction into the BGS and a few other things besides, I think it is a bit deeper than that. Generic buildings? Yes sure. Did you see Dom Corner on Supercruise News this week, or Buur Pit's synopsis. If I was to take I guess I think Frontier still see ED very much in terms of it's code as a development, seeing reskinning as pretty much trivial, once you've locked down the functionality properly. In mentioning settlement NPC (and emotes) Dom was even quite specific that they are fully aware, it's almost deliberately bare-bones at this point.
As far as planet surfaces go though, I'm sure you'll remember they were originally intended to be the last part of Beyond! So kicking themselves for the ambition I doubt it, nil points for execution though! Actually I think it's quite a bit better than nil, as for the me the new planet surfaces look brilliant. Is Drew campaigning for the Odyssey surface textures to be migrated onto Horizons's planets, so familiar planets stay that way? Because changing the topgraphy really was a bold move. Personally I can live with it because of the update to bio/geos and overlay. It doesn't sound like Drew's Tour can though!
I don't really know how deep the engine changes (I mean, both are the Cobra engine, but different versions of it) go, but the fact they're completely separate installs seems to suggest pretty deep indeed.
I haven't watched the SC stream, might just check out Buur's or OA's latest instead for a condensed summary
The problem for me really is that I'm quite fed up with getting strung along by FDev in the hope for better things (the "foundation" fallacy) - Odyssey was supposed to be feature complete and not a series of content, which I actually welcomed because the way seasons 2 & 3 were so awfully dragged out over time really grated on me towards the end, particularly of course during the long enough content drought. To keep me engaged they really need to deliver, sooner than later.
And I don't even mean new content as such, but stable and smooth performance (without this no new content is going to be enjoyable), visuals that resemble Horizons where it matters, and a more integrated gameplay experience between EDO and EDH features (could in theory be achieved quite simply, if there was a will - like revising and cross-utility between EDO and EDH mats and how you gather them). I don't have high hopes for any of these three to arrive anytime soon though, looking at the pace they're going over the past 5 months now.
Regarding Drew, the way I understand his views is he simply is not a fan of Odyssey, and while the video linked before is quite long, the first 20 mins cover it sufficiently. I don't think he's campaigning for anything from what I could tell - he's just moving on based on the assumption that things won't change fundamentally with Elite going forward. My views are much more aligned with him than I thought (I posted earlier in this thread about my own views before I watched his video - but it could well be seen as regurgitating his opinion,
that aligned basically).