Ahh yes... I have that from my Kickstarter pack
But I've never read it as a guarantee DLCs will follow. That said, this dedicated option seems to indicate a true intent to deliver some
100 billion star systems
- Thread starter Dalkeith
- Start date
Ahh yes... I have that from my Kickstarter pack
But I've never read it as a guarantee DLCs will follow. That said, this dedicated option seems to indicate a true intent to deliver some
And once you have seen one of each of these exotic phenomena, hand crafted or procedurally generated, are you going to still be interested?
You see my point? No matter what you see and how it was created, you are only ever going to see it for the first time once. After that it will all get samey. Sure, each planet is going to look unique from orbit. It's landmasses will be distributed differently, it's atmosphere will be different, rock/desert/ice/forest/water worlds etc. The same thing for your comets and pulsars.
"Oh look, another star pulling atmosphere from its sister."
I'm not being pessimistic either, just realistic. I think you might be worrying about nothing really as there will be a lot more to do that just admire the pretty scenery.
Yea but what he's showing is its already very possible, and has been done. So absolutely no reason the genius of Braben couldn't do it too. Time to chill
I reckon.. they could license planet proximity licenses to those commanders that buy the license, enabling them to purchase atmospheric shielding from suppliers and then enter the atmospheres or allow close proximity for those planets/ moons that do not have atmospheres. (In the real world that would be purchasing the expansion pack).
In your scenario the person with the expansion pack gets to enter the atmosphere, and the other would burn to a crisp if they did so; or for barren planets they would be shot down by planetary defenses (could be vipers or planet stationed BFGs).. is that fair?... I thinks so, in order to assassinate someone do it well away from a planet?
I believe looking at planets (ignoring surface DLCs) will get dull quite quickly personally. However, storms, aurora, volcanoes, eclipses etc would certainly make a visit more worth while.
As for bigger phenomena, such as say the pulsar in the crab nebula, these are far more rare. Rare enough that there may only be a couple the player could ever come across... And these are the types of things exploration needs! The chance of coming across - however rare - something different/unique.
And I've raised dedicated threads on this. And one example I suggested was in one system a extremely large cratered asteroid. One crater leads to a long tunnel that can be flown carefully down, until a huge cavern opens up, filled with walls covered with glow worm type things (creatures)? <-- Now this is clearly hand crafted content for nothing more than something to go and see, but I feel the game needs stuff like this to make exploration truly enticing... Because without it there's nothing to discover except a new coloured atmosphere, or a more valuable rock to mine.
IMHO we need a good lump of interesting/unique vistas and things to discover/see... I'm still waiting to see that this is indeed within ED!
Right! No expansion pack and you cannot purchase atmospheric shielding. The other player would receive a warning on their HUD that they are about to enter atmosphere and their shields should start to drain and when they go...BANG!
It would still be used as an escape route but I don't think it would penalise those that don't buy the expansion pack all that much. And what are we talking about here anyway? £35, which you would have at least a year to save for!
Ummm... It's a long way to a planet at the maximum speed Elite lets you travel at... eg: Days! So it's a non-issue I believe!?
FSD to the surface. But at some point there would have to be an interface between space and atmosphere and this would be the point where player without atmospheric shielding would have to turn back or be destroyed.
Lets say for sake of argument that the atmosphere is 100 miles thick. That's just under 160km. Travelling at the faster speed attainable it would take you 320 seconds, or just over 5 minutes, to get from interface to the surface. The interface would be where the FSD cuts out.
In the Sidewinder at 220m/s, it would take 727 seconds or 12 minutes from interface to surface.
I don't see that these flight times are unacceptably long. Remember that the escaping pilot only has to get to the interface via FSD. The chasing pilot without atmospheric shield cannot pass this point.
Lets say for sake of argument that the atmosphere is 100 miles thick. That's just under 160km. Travelling at the faster speed attainable it would take you 320 seconds, or just over 5 minutes, to get from interface to the surface. The interface would be where the FSD cuts out.
In the Sidewinder at 220m/s, it would take 727 seconds or 12 minutes from interface to surface.
I don't see that these flight times are unacceptably long. Remember that the escaping pilot only has to get to the interface via FSD. The chasing pilot without atmospheric shield cannot pass this point.
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Not sure if its just me; (I come from an artists experience), but everywhere you move and look, much will appear different. Also the immersion esthetic, (there's that word again) for a 'scifi' kind of game can be enhanced by on planet experience.
Perhaps these will be available around the time of the planetary expansions, if someone flies a lot in the atmospheres:
Hawk Airfighter
Kestrel Airfighter
Same with:
Moray Starboat especially if we see underwater cities.
I wonder if we can really fly over beautiful landscapes, when there are planetary landings, if I will spend more time above the planet instead of being in space
I can see myself doing that right now. I spend more time doing that in Arma 3 than really playing the game just because the graphics are so good.
I am hoping to get access to VBS3 in the new year which looks even better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFrGF54B0r0
An entire planet(s) that looked like that would be too much to hope for, surely!?
I am hoping to get access to VBS3 in the new year which looks even better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFrGF54B0r0
An entire planet(s) that looked like that would be too much to hope for, surely!?
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I would think the £35 expansion pass will be withdrawn at some point between the game being released and the first expansion being released. Otherwise you are just giving away the 2nd and any future expansion to anyone who buys the first. We get it cheap because we are backing early.
They are effectively very good. I hope ED will be the same level for landscapes
I don't think it's a problem of creating sufficiently believable planet. After all, coast line is based on fractals, trees and vegetation is fairly known subject as well. What could be problematic is how to make each planet look and feel different.
Can randomness introduce variety that is believable or plausible? Will we see some outrageous flora and fauna that even our human imagination couldn't create? The more variables and "moving parts" that make some structure, the more permutations are possible. Again, how not to make them feel "samey".
100 - 200 differents varieties of landscapes, flora and fauna, in all the galaxy, would be sufficient for my happiness
