Issue Tracker: Planetary Tiling

FDev: "We have cancelled console development to optimize, add content and further improve the game"
FDev: "We won't fix the planets issues in game"

I really hope the new content is really awesome...
Are you serious? It´s FD. They don´t know how to make good contents.
 
Greetings Commanders,

We’d like to take this opportunity to address the Tiling Planetary Features issue from the Issue Tracker.

After spending some time to observe the effects of the issue while weighing-up the costs to resolve it, we have decided to focus those resources elsewhere. Reducing or preventing the tiling effect would require a deep-overhaul of fundamental systems, which in turn would disrupt other aspects of the game. This would inevitably take time away from developing and improving other elements such as performance, bug fixes, and new content. We cannot justify this level of change and a re-generation of the galaxy in Elite. This is unlikely to change in the future so the issue will be closed, freeing up votes on the tracker for other issues.

We’ll continue to strive for the best possible experience for the highest number of players which our current focus allows us to do. We hope you’ll appreciate the reasoning behind this decision.

O7

Which just means one more Nail in the Coffin of the Game.

The News of New Projects and Future Content have been Shelved under the Pretext of concentrating Fully on Fixing the Issues with Odyssey.
And after Months of Silence the recent Announcements are basicly that the Issues cannot be Fixed without massive Work which You are not considering to worth doing.

If this Game is no longer even worth the Investment to Fix Issues from the Bug Tracker. Then I guess the Rumors are True and no Future Funding for Elite Dangerous is Planned.
Which basicly means that the last Service for the Game is to try and get the Corpse into a Halfwat Presentable State before the Funeral.


A Sad Day......
 
Extrapolation isn't "plucking numbers from thin air".
Are you sure?
Extrapolation literally is estimation taking into account existing data.
So presenting a guess as fact, then?
A million miles away from "plucking numbers from thin air".
Odd, it looked exactly like that was what 'extrapolating' 1000+ from a known 700+ was.

I do understand that 'size is important' to some, but 'bigging it up' just ends up as deception every time, doesn't it?

Of course, all of the 'debate' over the issue is pointless, if fun, as Frontier have made a statement that the issue is not being addressed and has been removed from the issue tracker.

It is entertaining to join in though, so not a waste of time! 🥳

Edit: Typos
 
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So why are they not addressing it?
Not sure if I’m just jumping in on what was a rhetorical question here Ratty, so apologies if that’s the case!

I think the reality of this is that it’s an issue but not a bug. The issue is rather an emergent artefact of the principles that the new planet generation system works on.

Assuming that is correct it means it’s not something that can be ‘fixed’ in the normal sense. Instead fixing this issue would likely mean changing to a planet generation system that works on a different set of principles. The problem with doing that is threefold. Firstly, there’s the cost, time and resource of doing. Secondly, there’s the impact of resetting all the planets. Thirdly, whatever system they changed it to would have its own set of inherent drawbacks as well, which would result in their own set of complaints.

In that case it’s ultimately not a case of investing time, resource and cost in fixing an issue, it’s a case of investing time, resource and cost in swapping one set of issues for a different set. Sounds like they’ve just reached the point where they have had to decide on that one way or other, and have made their decision.

(For reference, an example of an issue where nothing was actually broken or working wrong and so couldn’t be ‘fixed’ in the conventional sense was the FSS scan time issue.)
 
For reference, an example of an issue where nothing was actually broken or working wrong and so couldn’t be ‘fixed’ in the conventional sense was the FSS scan time issue.
Another, where the "fixing" something that wasn't broken in the first place, resulted in more cumbersome and clumsy experience is Sys & Gal Maps.
EDH ones could be improved (arguably a lot), but EDO went one step forward, two steps backward.
 
Not sure if I’m just jumping in on what was a rhetorical question here Ratty, so apologies if that’s the case!

I think the reality of this is that it’s an issue but not a bug. The issue is rather an emergent artefact of the principles that the new planet generation system works on.

Assuming that is correct it means it’s not something that can be ‘fixed’ in the normal sense. Instead fixing this issue would likely mean changing to a planet generation system that works on a different set of principles. The problem with doing that is threefold. Firstly, there’s the cost, time and resource of doing. Secondly, there’s the impact of resetting all the planets. Thirdly, whatever system they changed it to would have its own set of inherent drawbacks as well, which would result in their own set of complaints.

In that case it’s ultimately not a case of investing time, resource and cost in fixing an issue, it’s a case of investing time, resource and cost in swapping one set of issues for a different set. Sounds like they’ve just reached the point where they have had to decide on that one way or other, and have made their decision.

(For reference, an example of an issue where nothing was actually broken or working wrong and so couldn’t be ‘fixed’ in the conventional sense was the FSS scan time issue.)
There was a bit (on a livestream, I think) where the 'baking' of the EDO settlements was done by a team over a period of time, to ensure that each asset was placed somewhare sane. As there were literally thousands of assets to place, I'd hazard a guess it took some time to achieve. Dr Ross also mentioned in her appearance on a stream that the initial 'bumpy' surfaces in alpha were associated with 'noise' and was addressed. This left us with the final, rather flat, version of the tech we have today.

Assuming that the proc-gen algorithm lines that are responsible for terrain were fixed to permit less rounded and more extreme variations, it would mean that a team would have to redo each and every settlement once more to ensure sanity. There is a liklihood that the time needed to redo all of the work would simply push EDO development outside of the allocated budget, so it isn't going to happen.
 
I find it interesting that decisions are made that annoy as many players as possible.
It doesn't surprise me that the galaxy has become so empty.
IssueReport_151121.png

No matter how many small bugs will be fixed in the future. The big fish stay in.
Even though it has been removed from the issue tracker, it will still remain an annoying problem.
 
FDev: "We have cancelled console development to optimize, add content and further improve the game"
FDev: "We won't fix theat planets issues in game"

I really hope the new content is really awesome...
Fixed to show that it is only the one issue that FDev management have deemed not economical to fix.

I also hope the things they are able to work on and add are good.
 
I personally understand about Fdev decision, this is just a game after all, you can't expect every single planet will 100% have a different tiles. ED universe is too big for this, even No Man's Sky have this planetary tiling issue. For me the biggest problem for Odyssey is performance and optimization, imagine having this great DLC but only have 10% of player base playing it, i hope Fdev really do the "work" on this problem so most of the player base will move from Horizon to Odyssey.

About new content, this game NEEDS A LOT OF NEW CONTENT, Elite Dangerous have a lot of possibility for new content, the universe already set, please make it happen. Specially on foot and on ship content continuity, we need a content that connect between on foot and on ship so it won't feel like a different game. I don't mind if you guys delayed thargoid on foot content but at least give us something that worth to play for hours and still having fun, a real content for your loyal ED players.
 
I always thought this was mainly because a lot of people suddenly complained that they couldn't ride an SRV because the new surfaces were so bumpy. So changes were made to the SRV (for a short time there was even a quite silly version that I would classify as "driving for youngsters"). But the theory that this was also (or even mainly) to facilitate the placement of settlements makes a lot of sense to me. Simply because I have strong doubts that any of these were placed manually. I wonder how many developers and/or working time that would take? In any case, it might be difficult to believe in this nonsense and at the same time follow the occasionally heard theory that ED is only developed by 2 people.
where on earth have you heard that? elite dangerous is developed by 100s of people. the original game back in the early 80s was developed by 2 people Ian Bell and David Braben, the former of which has nothing to do with the current game
 
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I always thought this was mainly because a lot of people suddenly complained that they couldn't ride an SRV because the new surfaces were so bumpy. So changes were made to the SRV (for a short time there was even a quite silly version that I would classify as "driving for youngsters"). But the theory that this was also (or even mainly) to facilitate the placement of settlements makes a lot of sense to me. Simply because I have strong doubts that any of these were placed manually. I wonder how many developers and/or working time that would take? In any case, it might be difficult to believe in this nonsense and at the same time follow the occasionally heard theory that ED is only developed by 2 people.

If this was really mentioned in a livestream, I need to see the relevant part. I am almost certain that this can only be a misunderstanding or misinterpretation. The sentence quoted above can be interpreted differently than the manual placement of the settlements. I would consider random checks to be much more likely. The choice of words would be the same.

So, one should at least decide in favour of one nonsense, because 2 x nonsense cancels each other out in this case. 😵
I'm not 100% certain what Ratty meant with "each asset". Maybe it's just a little misunderstanding or maybe we remember that differently.

Here's what I think was said in that stream: The "baking" was indeed a lengthy and manual testing process. I think it wasn't just assets but also planet surface generation, lighting, etc. Basically everything the Stellar Forge can come up with and where settlements/POIs get placed. Frontier spent a lot of time doing that and gave it their best effort. There's only so much you can do with manual tests in such a huge environment. So no, I'm pretty sure not every single settlement etc in the game was manually checked but that would require unreasonable amounts of work anyway.
 
About new content, this game NEEDS A LOT OF NEW CONTENT, Elite Dangerous have a lot of possibility for new content, the universe already set, please make it happen. Specially on foot and on ship content continuity, we need a content that connect between on foot and on ship so it won't feel like a different game. I don't mind if you guys delayed thargoid on foot content but at least give us something that worth to play for hours and still having fun, a real content for your loyal ED players.
I agree it has a lot of mechanics for space and on foot gaming, they could add so much more to do and IMO the game would get better for it. There already is some overlap between ship and on foot content. I often fly to mission sites in my courier. Scavs about, kill them all with dumbfire missiles.. One drawback is that once you disembark all the bodies are gone, so a bit unrealistic and nothing to scan..

Regarding on foot thargoids, I just want to point out that it would be a very logical follow up of the thargoid threat and the release of EDO. Still I haven't heard a single statement from FDev that this is coming, this might be just another player invention and some could be very disappointed if they don't materialize.
 
There was a bit (on a livestream, I think) where the 'baking' of the EDO settlements was done by a team over a period of time, to ensure that each asset was placed somewhare sane. As there were literally thousands of assets to place, I'd hazard a guess it took some time to achieve. Dr Ross also mentioned in her appearance on a stream that the initial 'bumpy' surfaces in alpha were associated with 'noise' and was addressed. This left us with the final, rather flat, version of the tech we have today.
Noise function is a technical term for the part of the algorithm that decides how rough/bumpy terrain is.

The bumpiness in alpha was clearly overdone, but I do feel the final version is biased a bit too much towards flatness. Fortunately, the galaxy is huge, and bumpy planetary surfaces can be found out there, so it’s no biggie for me.

Assuming that the proc-gen algorithm lines that are responsible for terrain were fixed to permit less rounded and more extreme variations,
<pedantic> Not as much fixed (because it is not broken) as changed. </pedantic>
it would mean that a team would have to redo each and every settlement once more to ensure sanity.
I don’t think so. Each type of settlement has the same fixed underlying terrain, and that would not need changing.

However, if FDEV made changes to the terrain generation algorithm, there could be issues with how settlement’s terrain blends with its surroundings, so that aspect would have to be tested again.

I always thought this was mainly because a lot of people suddenly complained that they couldn't ride an SRV because the new surfaces were so bumpy. So changes were made to the SRV (for a short time there was even a quite silly version that I would classify as "driving for youngsters"). But the theory that this was also (or even mainly) to facilitate the placement of settlements makes a lot of sense to me. Simply because I have strong doubts that any of these were placed manually.
Some may be placed manually, but the overwhelming majority is surely placed procedurally; there are way too many of them to be all done by hand.

Whether the SRV driving aspect had any bearing on the final result (i.e. flatness) is anyone’s guess. What is clear to me, however, is that we would not be where we are if the Odyssey Alpha was followed by a Beta, instead of a rushed release.

However, what has happened, has happened, irreparable damage has been done (not the first time, anyway), the pragmatic approach to this whole issue is “nothing to see here (any more), move along”.
 
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