The next Elite

Munter

M
Elite Dangerous is the last (so far) in a long line of Elites since the BBC to have graced our monitors.
While Elite Dangerous is in it's twilight years that doesn't necessarily mean it's the end of the road for the story.
I wonder if there are any ideas on how the game could be reworked, redesigned from the base up?
Same lore. New ideas, new game play?

There is also the problem on how Elite Dangerous will survive in history as all the others have one way or another?
An offline single player version perhaps?

I'm now off to iron my Distant Worlds patches.
 

Riverside

Riverside
Fundamentally I think the premise of the game is a good one, and other openworld vehicle-centric games like the GTA series demonstrate that it can be popular, so I think there will always be a market for this kind of game.

However David Braben has ticked what I presume to be a bucket list item (or maybe unfinished business) by creating an Elite game to the best of his [companys] ability so I think the motivation from within Frontier to create another game that's basically the same concept isn't there.

But maybe there could be standalone spin-offs of the franchise & lore (such as it is) if that is considered to add value to a game, or at some point in the future maybe another company will buy the rights.

tbh I think this is it, Elite's last stand & one day it will be gone so I'm playing now while I can ;)
 

Jonkarra

J
I think ED has a fair number of years in it yet. Not least because I doubt fdev has the money or will currently to develop a successor. It's a pity the ground based combat is so shallow. I enjoy but its not enough to stand on its own, its just a sidestory to the main game, which it currently doesn't link well with. I suspect if anything fdev will continue tinkering with ED for a good few years yet trying to figure stuff out. If they could ever figure out how to develop the next elite game so it launches with a fully featured online space and ground combat MMO mechanic where you could be happy to do one without the other(or both for many of us) it could add considerable numbers of active players. Although then there would no doubt be constant forum drama every update between the space players and the ground players accusing fdev of favouring the other part of the game....
 

CMDR Karrde Sun

CMDR Karrde Sun
I still think elite needs a campaign. Not an interactive movie, but like the totally games campaigns.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M8ZeHZSZ3o&list=PL7glm5rbPHKyVSz0sc7kFThQsQXGsOclY


For any sequel to have a purpose, it would need to be more than the sandbox? I don't think rewriting everything again just to fix the issues would do enough to sell it.

EDIT: In case you don't know how to do it frontier, pick a chain of galnet articles and imagine the space events that would have resulted in the articles. Design missions etc. Is vintagetun the right person? Is it safe to talk about what happened to the martinez chronicles now? That looked so good. Can you finish it? :)
 
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Chaparral

Chaparral
Elite is a great game in its current iteration.

The biggest transformation would be a step away from p2p and into central servers - thus permitting a bit more stable and monitored player/player interactions- but that would require a larger player base to be practical financially I think.

Adopting a theme park MMO model emulating something like LOTRO probably isn't the direction given the FDEV passion around self-governing simulations.

I also don't think FDEV is invested in developing No Man's Sky style procedural life - especially since they stepped away from terrain procedural generation in adopting a catalog of tiled greyscale height map terrain assets, and developed static models for the surface biologicals.

People are demanding a bit more player to player interactivity, or more immersive narratives as an overall trend in the gaming experiences from my read, which are both a bit far from the FDEV model.

To me this feels like an apex to a career arc, and not a starting point for another franchise iteration.

This is the time to savor the old steam engine while we can.
 

robbyp

robbyp
What DB said back then was that he was going to continue expanding Elite for 10 years more. But he did not say everything stops at year 10, development or servers. It was a statement that he saw, back then, he saw a long term future for Elite. I'm sure he still does.
 

Ian Doncaster

Ian Doncaster
It's also worth bearing in mind that Frontier rarely delivers anything on time for Elite Dangerous. If they had a 10-year plan back in 2012, we might see it completed in 2027.


As far as a "next Elite" goes.
- I think it's very likely that there will be an Elite V
- It's not going to happen while Elite Dangerous is still running (even in feature-freeze), which is going to be for several years yet
- I wouldn't expect the gap between ED closing and Elite V releasing to be as long as the gap between FFE and Elite Dangerous ... but it'll probably be pretty close
- What a game coming out maybe in 2035 at the earliest looks like? Who knows.

The most interesting question is probably whether Elite V would also be an MMO (in the loose sense).
 

VR micmacmoc

VR micmacmoc
I'd like Raxxla to be a one way journey to a new galaxy, completely barebones. Then have to organise travelling through to build stations and start exploring a new galaxy with new species and what have you. Elite Galaxy.
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
Munter said:
Elite Dangerous is the last (so far) in a long line of Elites since the BBC to have graced our monitors.
While Elite Dangerous is in it's twilight years that doesn't necessarily mean it's the end of the road for the story.
I wonder if there are any ideas on how the game could be reworked, redesigned from the base up?
Same lore. New ideas, new game play?

There is also the problem on how Elite Dangerous will survive in history as all the others have one way or another?
An offline single player version perhaps?

I'm now off to iron my Distant Worlds patches.
Click to expand...
For me, what makes Elite unique in today's current lineup of space games is its Stellar Forge, which is not something Frontier can trademark. They might be able to patent the tech behind it perhaps, but the Milky Way itself is public domain. As for lore, Elite lore isn't the work of Shakespeare people make it to be. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Elite has lore, but so do other games like X4, and considering Elite's humble procgen beginnings, its lore is pretty simplistic and actually wanting in many regards (IMO of course).

As for nostalgia, I'm over that now. Growing up playing original Elite in 80's definitely had a HUGE roll in attracting me to ED when I first heard of it, but nostalgia will only get you (well, me) so far.

My point is, I don't personally don't need (and definitely do not expect) Elite Dangerous to be reworked and redesigned with same the lore and ships. I'd be just as happy if an entirely different company came along and took all the best features of all my favorite space games and designed something totally new and unique. But to Frontier's credit, Elite definitely has some of the "best features" I would want this mystery company to "borrow from" in making my perfect space game.
 

Chaparral

Chaparral
Agony_Aunt said:
As long as you're willing to pay my subscription fee and that of everyone else who doesn't like games with subscriptions in perpetuity i'm cool with that.
Click to expand...
There are many F2P MMOs or survival games with central servers that don't have subs, but they do have cash shops for skins and exp boosters etc. For a smallish property like ED, you are probably right, a sub fee would be a thing.

I would expect more from the experience with a sub fee though, with actual regular (every 2-3 months) content and skin updates, regular new ships and mechanics, as well as seasonal updates.
 

Miklos Atreides

Miklos Atreides
If you want to redesign the game from its basics, I would have some pinpoints where to look at. It's not the lore nor the flight modes which is outstanding. I don't think about mechanics like powerplay which honestly has been screwed as a sidecar to the game, but while you are already at work, just fix this too.
My point are more under the hood, where it is not possibly to apply to any faction in the game. Where ships are leaving space stations and jumping off, but then they are vanished. and where factions should be able to expand to uninhabited space. Population is not dynamic, which means if a system is facing a war or an outbreak many will leave. If a system gets a longlasting boom, well population will grow. Rework the economy away from more and more profits to a believable economic supply and demand markets that will take into consideration the population, the economy type, political status, factional influence, traffic, stream of imported / exported goods and so on.

These things can bring the game into next level of open world gameplay. Where the efforts you do might matter more than today.

Regards,
Miklos
 

londonx

L
Games tend to follow technology. I think leaps in AI and particle physics (inc light rays) simulation are the next boundaries in tech. It would make sense to redevelop a game engine once that tech is mainstream. Frontier is certainly pushing AI and emergent game potential from that in their titles but I don’t think mainstream computer power is there yet. Things like spontaneous AI and particle level destruction of game world building blocks would be enough to build a new title.
 
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