100 billion star systems

[nicomak]

100,000,000,000. the real milky way having between 1 to 4 times that many stars. in french we use "milliards" so there is no possible confusion.
more likely the later because the mass of the MW has been underestimated, we know that by looking at surrounding objects movement, they behave as if the mass of the MW was bigger than anticipated(100 000 000 000 stars). hence the estimation of how many stars there are in this galaxy has to be higher. but this 100,000,000,000 we're talking about refers to systems in the game, not stars. one system having perhaps from one to maybe 6 stars(not sure what would be the limit in the game), we also know that binaries are much more abundant than single star systems(if the Solar system has anything special, it's this).

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

Funny I see the same evidence and draw different conclusions.

My take on things like Space Engine / Vim and Limit Theory is that more resources doesn't necessarily mean better product . I am of the opinion that programming is one of the areas where an individual can make a massive difference. It's what is scaring me about SC and what appears to be the problem with all these high profile software houses producing buggy hinky software ( its not just a games industry thing ) despite having plenty of resources.

Through the filter of Marketing it is always difficult to tell what exactly is going on.

Before the alpha came out I was still very unsure of what the final result would be like. (say 50 / 50) With the alpha I'm now pretty confident (say 80 / 20 ). It is good that my level of confidence in the product is increasing as we progress. Contrast that with SC where my level of confidence seems to be decreasing.

Right I'm off to the design forum to suggest that we can have an option for randomised start locations. Would be fun to see if we can find our way back from faaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr ouuuuuuuuuuuutttttttttttt

That's exactly my feeling on both products too. I don't doubt SC will be a new level of gaming experience, but somehow I feel Frontier's low key and no hype stance tells me they have utmost confidence of what they're about to unleash will surpass everyone's expectations.

You know what they say, the silent ones are the ones you've got to watch out for!

 

[Maxeren]

That's exactly my feeling on both products too. I don't doubt SC will be a new level of gaming experience, but somehow I feel Frontier's low key and no hype stance tells me they have utmost confidence of what they're about to unleash will surpass everyone's expectations.

You know what they say, the silent ones are the ones you've got to watch out for!

I don't think we can even imagine what they have up their jumper sleeves to be honest...

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

I don't think we can even imagine what they have up their jumper sleeves to be honest...

LOL. You're right, it could be epic or it could be distinctly average. I'm getting carried away with the holiday spirit and looking forward to an imminent beta. I should really go endure X-Rebirth for a few days to get a reality check

 

[SeptimusOraka]

The big question for me is with that many stars how would you ever run into other people? If the entire human population played 24/7 you could literally play for thousands of years and never see another person.

I don't think so. In the most populated part(s) of galaxy (Empire, Federation and allied spaces), we will probably have trading hubs full of players buying and selling their products. But in the unknow parts of galaxy, we would probably be all alone in the dark...

How the gaming industry changes - I was reading an eerily similar trend when there was this more than faster push for Infinity:The Quest for Earth and folks writing at that time they would retire and spend the rest of their lives exploring the galaxy!
Who would've thought ED would be the one that would save the day - IQE becoming tragically a vaporware ! With the planetary landing for the first expansion - I think the whole Space sim community would galvanized just to see that unfurl!!

I don't think that Infinity is a Vaporware - remember that a IQE is not some Flash game - an MMO so ambicious like Infinity takes time to be produced.

Now back to Elite: Dangerous... with so many star systems, anyone here knows if we we'll have some alien civilization(s) beyond Thargoids? :S

 

[Beachlight7]

I'd be disappointed if there were not hundreds of alien civilisations, progressively generated of course.
I'm of the thinkers that our galaxy is brimming with life. Space faring civilisations maybe in the hundreds. But not with jump ability to easily go from system to system, confined to their own star or stars.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

I'd be disappointed if there were not hundreds of alien civilisations, progressively generated of course.
I'm of the thinkers that our galaxy is brimming with life. Space faring civilisations maybe in the hundreds. But not with jump ability to easily go from system to system, confined to their own star or stars.

That would be an interesting feature. Having alien civilizations all at different tech levels.

It'd be silly to think we're the most advanced civilization so hopefully there will be far more advanced ones out there that are deadly (tech-wise) to us if we get too close without invitation.

Also I could imagine making first contact with a bronze age civilization and trading them second hand farm equipment for their gold

Or a pre-industrial civilization - selling them computers.

Maybe there will be some form of prime directive where trading with certain tech levels is illegal?

 

[Razorwire]

I'd be disappointed if there were not hundreds of alien civilisations, progressively generated of course.
I'm of the thinkers that our galaxy is brimming with life. Space faring civilisations maybe in the hundreds. But not with jump ability to easily go from system to system, confined to their own star or stars.

I hope so. I missed the blue furry felines and edible poets in the sequals.

...Maybe there will be some form of prime directive where trading with certain tech levels is illegal?

Again, I hope so. Another thing to add to my rap-sheet

 

[NeilF]

I'd be disappointed if there were not hundreds of alien civilisations, progressively generated of course.
I'm of the thinkers that our galaxy is brimming with life. Space faring civilisations maybe in the hundreds. But not with jump ability to easily go from system to system, confined to their own star or stars.

That's a cool idea!

A couple of "hand crafted" aliens species which do not have the ability to travel beyond their own system.

In effect their solar system would be a place for you to visit to see their craft busily flying around their local system, in the early days stages of their space flight advancement.

Could be interesting to visit and look around

 

[Im_Lost]

Now back to Elite: Dangerous... with so many star systems, anyone here knows if we we'll have some alien civilization(s) beyond Thargoids? :S

Don't know, but I think it would be interesting to see a wide variation. Maybe some that haven't even discovered flight yet, or some only inhabiting 1 system etc

I suppose that would mean making a bunch of non-playable, less advanced ship types though.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

In effect their solar system would be a place for you to visit to see their craft busily flying around their local system, in the early days stages of their space flight advancement.

I could imagine being in my Cobra and shadowing one of their rickety lunar modules on its journey to a moon.

You can just can imagine the primitive astronauts inside reporting back "it was like nothing we've seen before, a big wedged shaped triangle with frosted windows." "We're not alone!"

 

[NeilF]

I could imagine being in my Cobra and shadowing one of their rickety lunar modules on its journey to a moon.

You can just can imagine the primitive astronauts inside reporting back "it was like nothing we've seen before, a big wedged shaped triangle with frosted windows." "We're not alone!"

This again is one of the sort of "hand craft" things I feel need to be in this game to give players plenty to discover and/or go and see.

Imagine after a couple of month after release if someone discovered an alien race in location X with strange technologically backward ships/station... Who wouldn't want to go along to have a look

A procedural universe is all well and good, but it needs some truly unique/inventive ideas hand crafted into it as well IMHO.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

This again is one of the sort of "hand craft" things I feel need to be in this game to give players plenty to discover and/or go and see.

Imagine after a couple of month after release if someone discovered an alien race in location X with strange technologically backward ships/station... Who wouldn't want to go along to have a look

A procedural universe is all well and good, but it needs some truly unique/inventive ideas hand crafted into it as well IMHO.

Stuff like this could lead to interesting story arcs. Like the Kilngons in Star Trek - a warrior race given tech far in advance of its society level that leads to conflicts as they begin spreading out from the confines of their system.

Or an unethical trader like Razorwire selling radioactives to primitive tribes - telling them its magic sparkly powder, only for the entire world to become polluted and extinct. Imagine the political events that spring up and tensions it can create. I'm not sure if that can stem purely from procedural generation, but DB has said certain parts of the galaxy will be closed off to allow future events to spring up there. So I'm guessing handcrafted story arcs and events are planned.

 

[NeilF]

Stuff like this could lead to interesting story arcs. Like the Kilngons in Star Trek - a warrior race given tech far in advance of its society level that leads to conflicts as they begin spreading out from the confines of their system.

Or an unethical trader like Razorwire selling radioactives to primitive tribes - telling them its magic sparkly powder, only for the entire world to become polluted and extinct. Imagine the political events that spring up and tensions it can create. I'm not sure if that can be stem purely from procedural generation, but DB has said certain parts of the galaxy will be closed off to allow future events to spring up there. So I'm guessing handcrafted story arcs and events are planned.

Indeed... But even keeping this sort of stuff small scale (ie: just something to go and see and interact with) will vastly increase the depth/interest in the game.

 

[Razorwire]

...Or an unethical trader like Razorwire selling radioactives to primitive tribes - telling them its magic sparkly powder...

Hey! I would never... Yeah, I totally would.

 

[nicomak]

in the game i think life will be "easy" to find, but intelligent life... not so much, advanced or not. maybe 10 species is already a lot. i dont mind because i dont want to find civilizations at every corner, this has to be something exceptional, hard to find.

also in reallity if any other intelligent specie exists, we have to expect much more than a few centuries of technological gap, probably even more than a few thousand years. the universe is old enough to have known many species much more advanced than ours, many times over. and life on younger planets would easilly be in its prehistoric time.

take a look there :
http://hereistoday.com/

 

[SeptimusOraka]

That would be an interesting feature. Having alien civilizations all at different tech levels.

It'd be silly to think we're the most advanced civilization so hopefully there will be far more advanced ones out there that are deadly (tech-wise) to us if we get too close without invitation.

Also I could imagine making first contact with a bronze age civilization and trading them second hand farm equipment for their gold

Or a pre-industrial civilization - selling them computers.

Maybe there will be some form of prime directive where trading with certain tech levels is illegal?

The idea of a Prime Directive making trade with worlds with a certain tech level illegal is interesting, and could be used to create some interesting missions - I can easily imagine missions where I am hired to sell advanced weaponry to an alien civilization with tech level similar to those of 19th Century old England or hunt down a smuggler ring trying to sell atomic bombs to the warring factions living in a alien world with a WWII tech level.

 

[SeptimusOraka]

I could imagine being in my Cobra and shadowing one of their rickety lunar modules on its journey to a moon.

You can just can imagine the primitive astronauts inside reporting back "it was like nothing we've seen before, a big wedged shaped triangle with frosted windows." "We're not alone!"

By the other side, imagine your little Cobra MK.III visiting an unknow star system and finding - or being found by - something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf7hWpQSUOs

 

[NeilF]

By the other side, imagine your little Cobra MK.III visiting an unknow star system and finding - or being found by - something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf7hWpQSUOs

I'd much rather find a damaged one of these floating in a nebula to fly around and look at

http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7/Essays/Pics/space188.jpeg

 

[Mazhurg]

I'd be disappointed if there were not hundreds of alien civilisations, progressively generated of course.
I'm of the thinkers that our galaxy is brimming with life. Space faring civilisations maybe in the hundreds. But not with jump ability to easily go from system to system, confined to their own star or stars.

I'd love to see encounters like Babylon 5 Sector 87 - The old ones where no interaction other than visual (or bad end if in wrong place for player - ie in path of whatever...) Ivanova and crew witnessed one of those god like species.