I think it's worth it full price but of course if one can get it on sale that's always better. It was just on sale on Steam recently at 30% off.Firstly, wait for the release of the update to see what it actually brings to the table and how stable the entire thing is. FDev have had a lot of issues with quality control of their content patches.
Secondly, wait for a sale. I think I saw Elite and Odyssey on sale over at humblebundle, but not sure if the sale is still up. Frankly, I wouldn't pay more than 15€ for Odyssey at the moment (stupid me pre-ordered and paid even more to participate in the pointless Alpha)
I mainly want Odyssey for FC interiors, and maybe the on foot exploration. Is it worth it for those 2 things? I will not be doing any FPS missions.
- Thread starter Aaron T
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You're right to bring up hardware requirements, but the "cutting edge hardware" comment isn't quite true, Odyssey hits the hardware more overall, but I don't consider a mobile RTX2060, 16gb to be cutting edge hardware at all. That's a med spec gaming setup, and some would debate whether that was med spec, I'm sure. It runs Odyssey satisfactorily enough (144fps in space, 90+ on planets & 45+ in concourses & bases), though could improve in areas to be fair.
I opened up Horizons yesterday as I should be receiving decal soon and it hadn't yet shown up in Odyssey and I must say the chrome in Horizons was definitely not as good as Odyssey. Mind you that was in the livery area, I never actually started the game itself, I have zero interest in loading into Horizons now.
Deleted member 182079
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I'm on an i7 9700, RTX2060S 8GB, 16GB RAM, and can play much prettier games at stable and consistently high framerates, and high/max settings @ 1440p. That's the benchmark for me; and EDO can reach neither the frame rates consistently, nor look even remotely as pretty. I can handle pretty visuals at lower framerates, and 2010 era visuals as long as I get high framerates (like I do in Horizons). EDO gives me the worst of both worlds.
Chromed, since you mention that, is messed up in EDO when ship kits are involved. On my Krait Phantom the main body is sort of similar to what it looks like in Horizons, whereas the ship kit parts are very shiny/reflective. On my iCourier it looks shiny/reflective throughout (body + kit parts), and indeed better than in Horizons, but it very much depends on the lighting - in SC it often looks like a dull grey instead. Same for other ships I have that skin for.
I could give you dozens of examples where a skin looks nowhere near what they look in Horizons, or even the thumbnail image in the shop - colours and/or saturation are wrong, texture resolution borked, material incorrect (Iridescent PJs are matte, not metallic), sometimes colour tones are wrong only in specific parts of the ship (Beluga has a few of those, to my dismay - most of the skins I bought look awful). Fleet Carriers are a good example too, most of those are messed up still, at least last time I checked.
I've given up on Frontier fixing them all, but I regret buying so many skins over the years that put me in the position to notice so many problems. Thankfully I no longer spend any money on this game in the form of Arx packs since May last year, so silver (chromed?) linings.
I don't really compare other games to Elite, they're not doing the same thing as it so it's apples to oranges, it's like Minecraft, looks like a dog and performed like a dog for years which would make you wonder why, but the whole game is represented by single blocks built to make a world plus physics, redstone etc.. It's an obvious example and not comparable to Elite either, but it's what's happening overall in the game that determines whether performance in game x is equivalent to game y. Though I will totally concede that you're not wrong that Odyssey chugs when it perhaps shouldn't. I also remember when the base Elite Dangerous, before Horizons, was looked at as a pretty demanding game.
I have chrome for a few of my ships, my DBX looks great, the new lighting system may lead to scenarios where the chrome doesn't look its best but that's not necessarily an issue with the paintjob, but again, it was right to get FDev to update them for the new lighting though to expect a 1:1 is maybe a bit much and from what I saw the Chrome on my DBX was much better in Odyssey than Horizons so I wouldn't want that anyway, even if it is a little different.
With the situation being the way it was I can only believe that FDev encountered some major internal issues of one kind or another with remote working, or perhaps multiple people out with covid for x amount of time, that caused them to fall behind schedule. I'm sure updating paintjobs was in the plan but it comes across as one of the spit and polish jobs at the end, which we all see Odyssey is still getting to. We are all in the same boat really, but some people's patience is shorter than others, and justifiably so in many cases, but at the end of the day, I personally have given FDev the benefit of the doubt as it relates to 2020 into 2021 as long as they continue to work to improve Odyssey and get it where it needs to be, which they have thus far, to a greater or lesser degree based on one's own perspective and patience, but as long as they keep going I will support that as part of the bigger picture of how I want Elite to advance since backing it in 2013.
Deleted member 182079
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Games are games. I will absolutely compare them with each other. They all compete for my free time, and as for Minecraft, it's a great example for the point I was making actually - it looks basic, but it doesn't bring my PC to its knees as a result. So I'm ok with that. MSFS is the exact opposite. So I'm ok with that. RDR2 or CP2077 look and perform great. I'm delighted about that of course.
This notion of not being able to compare Elite to anything else (although usually SC is fair game when it suits the argument...) is quite frankly bizarre.
Edit - as for paintjobs - I really don't care what problems FDev faced. They sold me a product which had certain characteristics, and since EDO they changed inexplicably. 9 months on, it's still not fixed for quite a few of them. I no longer care about the money, but as a result of this I no longer trust them to not pull the same again hence my wallet is closed indefinitely. End of story.
This notion of not being able to compare Elite to anything else (although usually SC is fair game when it suits the argument...) is quite frankly bizarre.
Edit - as for paintjobs - I really don't care what problems FDev faced. They sold me a product which had certain characteristics, and since EDO they changed inexplicably. 9 months on, it's still not fixed for quite a few of them. I no longer care about the money, but as a result of this I no longer trust them to not pull the same again hence my wallet is closed indefinitely. End of story.
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Let me put a bunch of redstone clocks in your spawn chunks and we'll see about that.
Deleted member 182079
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In fairness, I don't even own it on PCLet me put a bunch of redstone clocks in your spawn chunks and we'll see about that.
but it runs pretty well on my Vita, which is a tad less powerful than my desktop. And you know what... I'm ok with that.If I recall correctly most, if not all of the different Minecraft versions have some sort of permanently loaded (spawn) chunks, although obviously on PC you have options to permaload more (or less) chunks whereas on consoles and such it's fairly fixed.In fairness, I don't even own it on PC
And that's the difference between you and I.
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There are many other things metrics that can be used to compare games, I agree, but you were talking about specs and performance and how you needed a cutting edge machine for Odyssey to run "pretty well".
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Define "pretty well", without resorting to anecdotal evidence.In fairness, I don't even own it on PC
Deleted member 182079
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I'm not getting queasy while playing it.
I am never going to understand this attitude. "I must write off an entire new level of gameplay because I look down upon that kind of game, but I may now buy it because I can walk around some hallways and sit in a chair." Why? Why is marveling at hallway structure so much more important than doing something in this game's community?
Odyssey is worth the money. Full price, at this point. It had a garbage launch, and is still in need of further optimizing, but at this point it delivers what it promises in a respectably seamless way. The on foot missions are an interesting change of pace from the existing gamut of ship-based missions, and only like a third of them involve combat. Most of them involve obtaining or salvaging things, usually while being stealthy about it. Some involve sabotage or espionage. Some are about bringing settlements back online.
Most of the combat tends to happen if you donk something up. And at least a third of the combat missions are single-target stealthy assassinations rather than Call of Duty shoot-em-ups. Combat is generally fairly tense and tactical if you're running solo, and if you want easy mode, remain undetected with a Manticore Executioner and one-shot people with their shields off until you win.
The only part of the entire expansion where you are forced to only pew pew shoot people the entire time are Combat Zones. Because they're Combat Zones.
And yes, for the apparently all-important and all-consuming need for greater immersion, Fleet Carriers will soon allow you to walk around inside the hallways. I'm certain it'll be absolutely riveting to go shopping inside a thing you own, as opposed to going shopping inside a space port. It will also provide the entirely new and amazing gameplay loop of... ::checks notes:: sitting in a chair and watching a hyperspace jump.
Also, serious word of advice; the graphical needs of Odyssey are much higher than those of the base game. If you are running it on an older system or outdated graphics card, be ready to lower your settings instead of blaming the game for it. I run it on a GTX 1080 ti I and I had to drop from 4k resolution to 2k to get everything running smoothly, but was able to keep my settings at the "High" preset after the optimizations from the updates.
Odyssey is worth the money. Full price, at this point. It had a garbage launch, and is still in need of further optimizing, but at this point it delivers what it promises in a respectably seamless way. The on foot missions are an interesting change of pace from the existing gamut of ship-based missions, and only like a third of them involve combat. Most of them involve obtaining or salvaging things, usually while being stealthy about it. Some involve sabotage or espionage. Some are about bringing settlements back online.
Most of the combat tends to happen if you donk something up. And at least a third of the combat missions are single-target stealthy assassinations rather than Call of Duty shoot-em-ups. Combat is generally fairly tense and tactical if you're running solo, and if you want easy mode, remain undetected with a Manticore Executioner and one-shot people with their shields off until you win.
The only part of the entire expansion where you are forced to only pew pew shoot people the entire time are Combat Zones. Because they're Combat Zones.
And yes, for the apparently all-important and all-consuming need for greater immersion, Fleet Carriers will soon allow you to walk around inside the hallways. I'm certain it'll be absolutely riveting to go shopping inside a thing you own, as opposed to going shopping inside a space port. It will also provide the entirely new and amazing gameplay loop of... ::checks notes:: sitting in a chair and watching a hyperspace jump.
Also, serious word of advice; the graphical needs of Odyssey are much higher than those of the base game. If you are running it on an older system or outdated graphics card, be ready to lower your settings instead of blaming the game for it. I run it on a GTX 1080 ti I and I had to drop from 4k resolution to 2k to get everything running smoothly, but was able to keep my settings at the "High" preset after the optimizations from the updates.
EDO is the best Elite VR experience of them all and (even) Horizons looks pale by comparison, since Update 10. And I'm looking forward to watching the FC jump process with a friend who may not have enough time left to wait for 3308, in the Captain's Lounge. Tuesday, it is! 
O7,
O7,
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It's not necessarily the community, though they claim to represent it. But it may be more understandable if one contemplates that 'the other game'TM has ship interiors and players of that game are incentivized to bring new adherents with the real Elite community being an obvious target, for more than one reason, so it's a place to work from to sow discontent in this community while also using it as a grass is greener tactic. ho hum.
edo full price vs horizons when you're not really caring about the fps gameplay, no. it's not worth that, even for the new material based rendering and planet tech they've added and seeing sparse atmospheres.
Your on-foot "exploration" is not a different experience from horizons in that it's effectively nothing.
The concourses dont vary all that much and if you're not taking advantage of fps gameplay, do not offer anything you're not used to from horizons menus. You're rarely if ever going to be experiencing a bunch of other humans in a councourse hanging around. Due to the number of concourses, they aren't going to be social hubs.
It's unclear how much customization is going to be available for FC interiors beyond just changing some color schemes.
I would hold off on paying full price for EDO until FC interior customizations are fully released and you can see just how much you'll be able to make yours your own and get out of it.
If i was just going to use edo for the concourses and exploration though, as a dlc i dont think that would be worth more than 10 bucks. Really, just those aspects of edo aren't even worth a paid dlc...but there's still hope that maybe on foot exploration is something they work more on or potentially some srv fun not available in horizons.
Your on-foot "exploration" is not a different experience from horizons in that it's effectively nothing.
The concourses dont vary all that much and if you're not taking advantage of fps gameplay, do not offer anything you're not used to from horizons menus. You're rarely if ever going to be experiencing a bunch of other humans in a councourse hanging around. Due to the number of concourses, they aren't going to be social hubs.
It's unclear how much customization is going to be available for FC interiors beyond just changing some color schemes.
I would hold off on paying full price for EDO until FC interior customizations are fully released and you can see just how much you'll be able to make yours your own and get out of it.
If i was just going to use edo for the concourses and exploration though, as a dlc i dont think that would be worth more than 10 bucks. Really, just those aspects of edo aren't even worth a paid dlc...but there's still hope that maybe on foot exploration is something they work more on or potentially some srv fun not available in horizons.
The SRV fun already exists in EDO. If you take the ExoBio career seriously and head out into the deep black for a lot of First Logged credits, you will encounter terrains where samples live that challenge pilots' landing skills (and patience!) and SRVs become the only practical way to navigate between sample sites and your ship. Some of the higher-altitude terrains are ridiculously rugged but make for SRV fun nonetheless, and added to that is the inability to mark a sample site (as with a beacon, hint hint) so you have to eyeball your way to it from the SRV cockpit. The ExoBio varieties Fungoida and Frutexa are very fond of such heights, and others occur there as well. These instances were both fun and in many ways annoyingly difficult. Add in high and low gravity to spice things up, and it's pretty good gameplay for a botany class!
unless the new planetary terrain is offering some topology that didn't exist in horizons, horizons would have all of that srv driving available.
I was thinking more along the lines of unique srv gameplay to odyssey, like multi-crew and the new srv.
I'll consider the exobiology a gameplay role when they add gameplay to it. as is, staring at a special rock is not a role nor something that can be taken serious. - and it's something you can do in horizons too. You just wont get paid to do it.
As with most of Elite Dangerous, including both Horizons and Odyssey, "unique" gameplay is dependent on what you do with the opportunities. Your prejudice against ExoBio is transparently obvious, so you've already cut yourself off from many such opportunities. Yes, there is topology much different from what Horizon offers, both in scale and complexity, but you have to seek it out; just assuming it doesn't exist is like wearing blinders.
I will admit to a similar prejudice against the FPS aspects of Odyssey, but having given a number of different mission types a go, it's become more interesting than I expected. I won't be pushing the Merc path via CZs and the like, but I've come to recognize it can have some appeal to others, so I don't pan it out of hand. The suit and weapon upgrades and engineering "grind" is tightly bound to doing various mission types, so rather than being just a credits chase, it's much like trying to improve your basic ship capabilities. Result is you can better perform the on-foot tasks. An example: I bought a G3 Dominator just as a completionist move, and have since upgraded and engineered it, despite not planning to use it in combat roles. Turns out it can serve a purpose in the Covert Heist missions as well (necessary for an Engineer unlock), providing both shield strength and firepower for when things go a bit pear-shaped. I turned the "grind" into an opportunity to learn about Odyssey stealth tactics and also make use of what otherwise was just a collectible. Opportunities became benefits, and the Heists are a gas.
I will admit to a similar prejudice against the FPS aspects of Odyssey, but having given a number of different mission types a go, it's become more interesting than I expected. I won't be pushing the Merc path via CZs and the like, but I've come to recognize it can have some appeal to others, so I don't pan it out of hand. The suit and weapon upgrades and engineering "grind" is tightly bound to doing various mission types, so rather than being just a credits chase, it's much like trying to improve your basic ship capabilities. Result is you can better perform the on-foot tasks. An example: I bought a G3 Dominator just as a completionist move, and have since upgraded and engineered it, despite not planning to use it in combat roles. Turns out it can serve a purpose in the Covert Heist missions as well (necessary for an Engineer unlock), providing both shield strength and firepower for when things go a bit pear-shaped. I turned the "grind" into an opportunity to learn about Odyssey stealth tactics and also make use of what otherwise was just a collectible. Opportunities became benefits, and the Heists are a gas.
driving around in edo for unique terrain similar to canyon flying or mountain peaks that send you into space etc is worthwhile, though not unique gameplay in of itself, since you can do that in horizons for much less money.
I dont have a prejudice against exobio, it is just hunting for non-interactive "rocks" you stare at and then continue. You can literally do everything necessary for this "role" in horizons ...except get paid ... If you want to trek around on a surface, go to various spots and stare at a item for a bit and continue, you've done exobiology. There's no gameplay involved in the role. You dont have hazards to overcome so much as terrain that is sometimes un-landable on so you have to land a bit away and srv or walk over to reach your particular thing to stare at.
did they give the biological entities some way to defend themselves? Did they make them hostile and attack you? Did they hide them behind some puzzle you must solve to find them? Is it anything except goto identified spot on surface and stare and repeat?
I wouldn't call exobiology a role, much less give it a ranking and pay people to do it in it's current state. For sure i wouldn't pay real money to experience it if you already have horizons.
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i'd consider it seriously if they added the space spiders as a threat around many different kinds of bio sites (all the valuable ones). the space spiders would attack and try and kill an explorer if they triggered a number of things while approaching a site or taking a sample. Approaching too close in an srv or ship. Could be stepping on a spider hole, could be using your sampler in the wrong spot of the bio site. And maybe they always come out in the dusk/dawn periods regardless of the player.
Then you would have some gameplay involved with the role. You would need something along those lines to make a something with substance.
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By your definition, all Horizons exploration is "staring at rocks," so why both exploring the galaxy? The Codex gets filled up by "staring at rocks" so why have it, it's just useless, right? Gathering elemental materials in Horizons is literally shooting at defenseless rocks, so let's toss that as well, also useless. But wait, you need those for Synthesis and other things, so let's put that back in, or perhaps drop the synthesis ability. Farming USS and other signals is often just slurping up inanimate stuff, so it's not worth much either. Mining? More staring at and shooting rocks. That pretty much pares it down to combat-based gameplay, since Trade is just hauling rocks from one rock to another rock for credits that can be used to buy more, but prettier, "rocks." So now it's hunting down and shooting at self-propelled "rocks" who can throw rocks at you, but they are rarely as good at it as you are, right? In the end, it's all just staring at or shooting at rocks, so your idea of gameplay seems to boil down to a gunfight at the Cosmic OK Corral. Seems more than a little limiting.