Is this really it? Is this the whole game? Did I miss something?

[englishkernigit]

Not all 400 billion are populated. In fact only a tiny fraction (~100,000 IIRC) are even part of "human controlled space".

Yeah thats true but with what is populated and with the amount of different factions that are in this game i think it would make for some intresting story lines and then add on top of that the thargoid race and maybe the human factions putting aside their differences to deal with that would fill out the universe alot more but i guess im too use to having that kind of thing in the games i play and from what i understand there has been alot of fiction written about the ED universe surely some of that can be adapted to the game with the authors permission ofc.But what ever the case i look forward to finding out what the developers have come up with.

P.S thanks for the link deusx

 

[Megalon]

you will be better OFF* playing Star Citizen.

everything that is wrong with this community in one sentence.

 

[MorkFromOrk]

everything that is wrong with this community in one sentence.

Mine was three (admittedly one of them was very long but was designed to be a ramble).

 

[Armour]

my god 9 days to gamma and people still say "it's not a game yet"

Well, it's not. What is so silly about that attitude? When the devs release something they are happy to call a release candidate/gamma/etc, then I am happy to treat that as a very close relation to what is going to be released as an end product, if not an end product itself. I will play it first, get a feel for it as a game, holistically and specifically, and then I will provide feedback. Before that, I will treat each release as a testbed, including this most recent one.

 

[Megalon]

Mine was three (admittedly one of them was very long but was designed to be a ramble).

that quote was not supposed to be there. i still had the multi quote enabled from the last time i quoted you for some reason. its been edited.

 

[foxpur]

This actually fits under "IT'S STILL BETA YOU IDIOTS" as long as it is in the BETA you have a incomplete game.
So saying "Is this all" by definition the answer won't be yes until it is past the release stage.
To the OP, think before posting.

 

[_Flin_]

Well, to be fair, they do have a point.

When it comes to semantic jousting, then yes. Like the colleague of mine who said he doesn't do errors, and he doesn't fix errors. Because the project isn't over yet and therefore everything wrong is not an error and his correction not a fix.

Although, also to be fair, when Gamma arrives a bunch of people will still say 'it isn't released yet'.

Yep. And when it is released it's "wait for christmas", then "wait for new year" and then the "in politics there is the 100 day rule".

But, actually, the good part about it is that I will never again pay for Elite unless I buy an expansion.
So I can just lean back, and maybe put the game to rest and pick it up in 3 months again, and I won't have to pay for it again, and I won't have to renew my subscription, or whatever.

And quite frankly, I cannot see how I will pay for landing on planets and stations, because I am just not interested in that. A planet is where I am already at. And a station is nothing more than an office building/garage in space.

 

[Sav112]

Massive area to explore that looks stunning that can be tailored to give great experiences by the developers. I’m sure there will be safe heavens and outright dangerous if not deadly parts given experience. You can trade, Mine, Pirate most likely salvage, you can become an explorer reporting back what you have found. You can be a good guy or the evil killer. The scope is huge. A good array of ships to fly and get used to not to mention the ones you cant that will be there I’m sure. You will be able to influence a other human playing online be it good or bad, directly or indirectly. Alien races will no doubt appear on the scene bringing new technology. Granted this is from the perspective of being an original Elite player back in 1984 on the BBC so maybe I have rose tinted specs on but I’m loving what I’ve been shown so far and that’s before we get to VR head sets and Voice control that back in my day we could only dream about never mind meet a real player in space. Our Idea of online was Prestel. I'm looking forward to online play either Solo or with out with a group. Every interaction will be different with it being shock horror not just about killing as many as you can as fast as you can. I’ve never played any other Elite versions apart from the original BBC and Electron so it’s a massive difference to me. What you can do now graphically is amazing, back in my day we had the original cutting edge processor called our imagination to fill in the gaps.


The last time I thought Is this really what accounts for a game these days was playing a youngsters Call of duty game over the holidays and thinking Christ this gets real boring running down the same passage only to do it again and again being killed or killing with very little skill. It could be just my style of play. I was that annoying sniper on BF1942 that took twenty minutes to get into position and when I did I created all hell. I did not feel the need to be gratified by a kill every thirty seconds because the map just funnels both sides to a meat grind. But then back then Maps were huge. Don’t play DayZ if you need action from the first minute. But for me I like a slow burn skilled game and can leave the others that like the kill fest games like COD that seem Wash, Rinse , Repeat!

 

[rumtruffle]

i completely agree with TC

this is merely Elite HD, and whilst that might satisfy those more inclined to look backwards than forwards, its sad there has been little to no advancement of this game franchise since its orginal inception 30 years ago.

it suggests to me that braben ran out of ideas 30 years ago and is simply trying to relive past glories - Not on my time hes not.

 

[CaptTamer]

The OP seems more intetested in provoking reactions than any worthwhile analysis. The power of Elite has always been its essential purity of design and approach. If you want cut-scenes and to be treated like a juvenille then this is simply not the game for you. It provides an infiinite canvas in which the player can fulfill their ambitions, thoughts and aspirtions to explore, trade and fight in the vast blackness. To complain there is nothing to do is to present a foul brand of reductionsim which seems to be increasingly common.

 

[Vagabund]

The OP and others bring up very good points. I don't understand why they are being attacked for just sharing their view.

Me as someone who played the original Elite on the C64 in early 80s as a teenager, ED in its current state (Beta 3.05) feels like a remake, only with bigger universe, much better graphics and awesome sound. Even though I am very thankful FD have taken the challenge and having spent quite some money on it, I am a bit concerned on the current state of the game. It indeed feels a bit empty and sterile. It has got to be only the framework for future expansions. Otherwise there will be quite some disappointment I think.

The original Elite kept me busy for years and it was my dream coming true to steer my own spaceship, but today as a grown up, my expectations towards a space-simulation / game are higher than what we currently have at hand.

I don't ask for storylines and I am very happy with a sandbox game (was happily playing EVE for years), but a bit more "flesh around the bone" for gamma or final release would do this game well.

Despite the concerns, I will play ED and spend many, many hours in the universe, but potentially less than I thought. At least in the beginning. Over time however, after expansions kick-in we may see the game evolve to what was promised all along.

I am really hoping that the developers have some jokers in their backpockets for gamma / final release with regards to content. Let's hope for that. That's all we can do right now.

 

[MorkFromOrk]

The OP seems more intetested in provoking reactions than any worthwhile analysis. The power of Elite has always been its essential purity of design and approach. If you want cut-scenes and to be treated like a juvenille then this is simply not the game for you. It provides an infiinite canvas in which the player can fulfill their ambitions, thoughts and aspirtions to explore, trade and fight in the vast blackness. To complain there is nothing to do is to present a foul brand of reductionsim which seems to be increasingly common.

I know where you are coming from but you are equally guilty of reducing the OP's concern to a juvenile uninformed, unimaginative tirade.

An infinite canvas is still a blank canvas. A very small percentage of people on this planet are artistic enough to paint something decent on it. There is plenty to do right now but is there more than there was 30 years ago? Not yet as so far it is a remake.

I love Spider Man and have done for years. Despite that I get sick of them rebooting the same damn origins story every few years. Lets get something new and creative built around the beauty that was the original. To fulfil my 30 year dream ED needs to be more than just a soulless remake, it needs to tap into the creative powers we know DB has. I don't think he will disappoint but forgive others for expressing their doubts and don't try to make out everything is perfect just because you are happy with the same thing 30 years later.

 

[Interstellar]

Agree with OP. Game is boring as hell. Even X-Rebirth, despite how disastrous the launch was as well as its bugs, is still more fun in it's current state than ED is. That's pathetic.
I raised my points and made suggestions weeks ago only to have the exact same type of people that are plaguing your thread shoot mine down as well.
ED is pretty much "Use your imagination to fill in the blanks" ala circa 1980's gaming, where most of the ED fanbase stems from.
Well guess what, you needed to use your imagination because technology was lacking back then. That is not the case in 2015, so why does ED even exist?
I've personally given up hope on this game and turned my attention back to X3 with mods, as well as Star Citizen, which looks like it will destroy ED.
This game is basically Space Engine with some low entertainment features tacked on. I definitely constantly question the $75 I put into it, because it isn't even worth $30.

 

[foxpur]

i completely agree with TC

this is merely Elite HD, and whilst that might satisfy those more inclined to look backwards than forwards, its sad there has been little to no advancement of this game franchise since its orginal inception 30 years ago.

it suggests to me that braben ran out of ideas 30 years ago and is simply trying to relive past glories - Not on my time hes not.

This post confuses me, if you don't like the game or the concept of what the game represents... Why are you here on the forums at all? Why even post aside from being a hate post? The game is what it is, if you don't like it, don't play it, but you post was deliberately insulting to not onely FDEV as a awhole but to the hundreds of players that DO appreciate the staff and the game.

 

[DrSpin]

The OP seems more intetested in provoking reactions than any worthwhile analysis. The power of Elite has always been its essential purity of design and approach. If you want cut-scenes and to be treated like a juvenille then this is simply not the game for you. It provides an infiinite canvas in which the player can fulfill their ambitions, thoughts and aspirtions to explore, trade and fight in the vast blackness. To complain there is nothing to do is to present a foul brand of reductionsim which seems to be increasingly common.

That's a bit overdramatic! ;-)

I'm only just starting out and am still a bit awe-inspired by the game, but even I can see that there are reasonable concerns to be had right now. That said, I think most of the concerns have been raised (I've certainly read enough!) and probably the best thing now is to wait and see, and hope that tomorrow's newsletter is a thing of joy!

 

[SuBSynk]

There is plenty to do right now but is there more than there was 30 years ago? Not yet as so far it is a remake.

don't try to make out everything is perfect just because you are happy with the same thing 30 years later.

Did you even play the original Elite?! Whilst there are similarities the games are so different its hard to tell if you are joking here or being serious.

 

[foxpur]

A vast majority of who agree with the OP seem to have read what the core of the Elite game is.

They created Elite as a extension of concept to the original Frontier 30 years ago. They created the same core idea of that game with new and improved graphics and make it more true to life in space design and applied more dedication to space as a 3D environment. And players wanted there to be the option that other players could be in the game giving it a more immersion environment.

That's it, that was what was the basis for what is here. Anything else in the game was icing on a already well thought cake. So expectations of the players is really not relevant to what the actual game if.

Having said that, there is more to come to make it more than even that level. If you want to make a game suited to this level of design and programming no one is stopping you... in fact, I'd love to see what you can come up with. But complaining at the designers for not doing what you feel should be there is just pointless. The game is exactly what it should be. If you expected more you have only yourselves to blame, not the people that made it for you.

 

[Interstellar]

I respect that FD wanted to make a game that is faithful to the original while adding in content that is as close to scientifically possible as they can make it.
On the other hand, they made a boring game that only appeals to astronomers and likely less than half the people that paid money for it.
Reviews will reflect this, and so will the sales figures. Oh well, I'm hoping SC does a better job at creating a more entertaining video game.

 

[MorkFromOrk]

Did you even play the original Elite?! Whilst there are similarities the games are so different its hard to tell if you are joking here or being serious.

Let's put aside multiplayer which in itself it could have lots adding to the thread.

We have multiple ships (fewer than the original) but we have ships.
We can equip them using credits. More options within the options but so far not innovation as such
We can travel to distant worlds. Fantastic graphics and soon far more than there ever were originally
We can trade to earn credits. A slicker interface but still pretty much the same game play characteristics. In some ways behind such as how early you can see prices.
We can bounty hunt wanted NPCs
We can take on missions. Apart from the earliest versions on tape we could do that before. Sure there are more missions but so far not a great deal of depth to them
We can mine. It has a bit more variety such as requiring some different kit, but is it massively different?
We can interdict or be interdicted. That is only a different mechanic of meeting other ships between star and station. 30 years ago we had to run the gauntlet, same thing today.


Of course the game today is far prettier, bigger and more impressive, but so was each of the Spider man origin stories released after the one back in 78 (I think) but it is still the same story with subtle changes. Look past the pretty graphics and how different is the game these 30 years on? There will be huge differences based on what we've been told, but even in some of those cases they are reboots of what came in Frontier (whatever versions) but bigger and prettier.

Without referring to graphics and 400 billions systems. What is new that has not been seen before in a previous Elite incarnation?

There are so many of us backers that are willing to play a pure remake (me being one of them) but eventually we will stop just like most of us did 30 years ago. Those that didn't get bitten by that bug may have greater expectations than us old fogies. Whether you like their expectations today is there enough in this to make them play it anyway? 30 years ago Elite broke the mould because it was ground breaking. Is the same formula alone enough to break the mould again?

Maybe this is just a means to an end for FD. Perhaps they saw a great way to fund a remake using the richer (than they used to be aged 14) customer base that they had all those years back. Perhaps they are simply seeing this as a way to fund development of the Cobra game engine so they can make money off that through licensing to others. Either way, as it stands today and potentially even in a few days time at Gamma, without serious changes this is still a remake of a 30 year old game with new tech but with not a great deal more added.

 

[Jeverest]

I miss my lite brite...