This is going to be a wall of text, but it deserves every ounce of it as I haven’t felt this way about a game in a very long time. In fact, I have never actually written something like this for any game… ever. It will start with a thank you and then a suggestion, and I will do my best to express what I intend while keeping it thought provoking for the readers sake. If you want to skip the thank you and read my suggestion it starts on paragraph 7. That being said:
Once of my first games was Mario 64. When you are younger games can give you that “Wow!” feeling that become harder to elicit with age. I know the original elite was the first for many people, but I sort of missed that boat as I wasn’t even born yet, and was two young to appreciate the following games in the series. I haven’t played Mario 64 in about a decade (or more) but I still vividly remember each level. Jumping through the paintings and experiencing a new world was amazing to me as I’m sure the original elite was to many of the people who first played it.
Since then I became fascinated with space and the games I was attracted to became more complex and intellectual, like Dwarf Fortress, Eve, Aurora 4X (no ones probably heard of it), Kerbal Space Program, etc. and I became a general space nut. I think there was a massive hunger for the type of game Elite: Dangerous is and can be.
Moving to the point, Elite Dangerous keeps giving me that feeling that games gave me when I was a kid. Realizing the galaxy is an actually realistic representation of reality was jaw dropping. Moving through and hearing the WHIRRRRRR as stars pop in and out of existence. I remember scrolling and seeing so many star names pop in and out of existence so fast that in two seconds I saw more than I could possibly ever explore. Another was seeing the rings and purposefully trying to break the immersive experience by trying to prove to myself that it was just an image the developers had put there…. A 2D image I could pass through. Then being floored as I got closer, realizing this was not the case I had to leave my chair. Then came back and promptly took screen shots.
I have become absolutely fascinated with exploring. Currently I am in the middle of god forsaken nowhere. With only the 500 ls range scanner…. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve been using the planets orbital paths and my knowledge of orbital mechanics to locate the other stars even one 150,000 ls out. This type of detail, and adherence to realism has me in a constant state of awe for the past couple of days. I can’t believe I missed the Kickstarter. Luckily this was released after the exams for my master’s, because I would have missed them all.
So a big thank you to the team that put this together. I realize that every bit of detail I run into is days and months of painstaking work…. And you know what? It shows. I truly feel this is a work of art rather than a game. It’s not just a story handed to you by a developer. It’s something the player experiences, and it will mean something different to each player.
(SUGGESTION PART)
And now to my main point about what the game is missing. And I know it’s a work in progress. In fact, I wouldn’t have shut off my game to type this letter of appreciation, if the game didn’t have the potential I feel it does. The detail I’ve described has set such an amazing base for an expandable game that could easily become the most incredible game universes of any game to date.
While exploring fascinates me, it is missing something. And landing on planets will be fantastic, but will only fuel what I feel is missing. It’s my favorite part of the game but I feel like there needs to be a reason, or a way I can benefit from exploring, besides just selling the data. For example, say I find an amazing system full of beautiful rings, minerals and terraform-able planets – will that ever be put to use? Better yet…. Can I put it to use?
The answer and first thing that comes to mind (for me) is a form of persistent storage. It would add so much depth to the game in many different places. Lets take a look at the simplest form.
This fits in with what they are adding already. Imagine landing on a planet, but with the purpose of scouting out an area to bury some cargo or loot… much like the pirates who live hundreds of years ago, except instead of islands in the vast expanse of ocean, it’s on a planet in the vast expanse of space. Your ship would of course save the coordinates for you to easily remember the location…. But in the event that you lost your ship with its computer intact, and someone got a hold of it, it would serve as a treasure map for someone else. X marks the spot. This wouldn’t even create an object the server would have to track, but rather would just be a location.
This isn’t limited to buried crates but floating crates in space as well, and the mechanic would be very similar. Space is so vast and the crate is essentially running dark (if unpowered) much in the same way your ship does, making it very hard to detect. In the same way enemies would be able to track it down using remnants of your ships computer if it survived. This adds a place for pirates or smugglers to temporarily store illegal goods, miners can store cargo and make fewer trips working in tandem with a cargo running buddy, bounty hunters now have something beyond just the bounty…. A map to the previous owners treasure…. All from persistent storage that the server only tracks as a location, or pops a crate into existence for someone floating in space when they receive a ‘map’. A powered crate might be easier to detect.
Lets say current technology allows us to take this a step further, and it should. Lets take a look at the next level, beyond just a location:
Say you find a planet with high methane and you want to make a venture creating mineral oil. It would cost a lot of capital to make a small depot and crew but it could be worth it in the long run. It would probably be easier to detect, losing its defensive aspect on being able to naturally “run dark”. You have crew and power being expended and goods pirates want. Perhaps you could upgrade and add guns. It also gives the player a defensive spot to run to adding strategy to location… but do you want to let the pirates know where your depot is?
This also adds a purpose to pirating in deeper space. Perhaps you find a player depot you want to pray on. You might need four guys to take on a facility since it doesn’t need engines it can use that space towards extra shielding. Maybe it has fighters that try to board you (a feature they are already going to add to the game, according to videos on their YouTube channel).
Some pirates would now be working together more, and others fighting with each other’s hideaways. Law abiding players would also have to work closer with the system authorities. Perhaps paying for patrols by giving a percentage of the profits. Or forming alliances and posses with their neighbors (like the wild west) to hunt down a band of particularly troubling bandits. A lone pirate could also negatively affect a station by intercepting NPC trade (if that was something that existed and was implemented). Landing on planets would also have a purpose as you could scout for various resource sites.
As an explorer running into player created content like this would be absolutely amazing.
There are many levels beyond this but you get the idea. The space is so vast you could go out 200 ly and rarely be bothered especially if you built on a star offset by 100 light seconds from the star people warp in on. There are of course issues this brings with it, but they can all be resolved. For example, player stations could only be destroyed in Open Play, which is fair because you don’t want invisible pirates attacking your base. Likewise, you should probably only be able to interact with your base in open for similar reasons. I’m looking forward to peoples thoughts on the idea and expansion of it as I feel this would add a whole new level of addictiveness to the game.
Also other suggestions that would make exploring more interesting would be awesome. This is just my humble suggestion/solution. Have at it.
Once of my first games was Mario 64. When you are younger games can give you that “Wow!” feeling that become harder to elicit with age. I know the original elite was the first for many people, but I sort of missed that boat as I wasn’t even born yet, and was two young to appreciate the following games in the series. I haven’t played Mario 64 in about a decade (or more) but I still vividly remember each level. Jumping through the paintings and experiencing a new world was amazing to me as I’m sure the original elite was to many of the people who first played it.
Since then I became fascinated with space and the games I was attracted to became more complex and intellectual, like Dwarf Fortress, Eve, Aurora 4X (no ones probably heard of it), Kerbal Space Program, etc. and I became a general space nut. I think there was a massive hunger for the type of game Elite: Dangerous is and can be.
Moving to the point, Elite Dangerous keeps giving me that feeling that games gave me when I was a kid. Realizing the galaxy is an actually realistic representation of reality was jaw dropping. Moving through and hearing the WHIRRRRRR as stars pop in and out of existence. I remember scrolling and seeing so many star names pop in and out of existence so fast that in two seconds I saw more than I could possibly ever explore. Another was seeing the rings and purposefully trying to break the immersive experience by trying to prove to myself that it was just an image the developers had put there…. A 2D image I could pass through. Then being floored as I got closer, realizing this was not the case I had to leave my chair. Then came back and promptly took screen shots.
I have become absolutely fascinated with exploring. Currently I am in the middle of god forsaken nowhere. With only the 500 ls range scanner…. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve been using the planets orbital paths and my knowledge of orbital mechanics to locate the other stars even one 150,000 ls out. This type of detail, and adherence to realism has me in a constant state of awe for the past couple of days. I can’t believe I missed the Kickstarter. Luckily this was released after the exams for my master’s, because I would have missed them all.
So a big thank you to the team that put this together. I realize that every bit of detail I run into is days and months of painstaking work…. And you know what? It shows. I truly feel this is a work of art rather than a game. It’s not just a story handed to you by a developer. It’s something the player experiences, and it will mean something different to each player.
(SUGGESTION PART)
And now to my main point about what the game is missing. And I know it’s a work in progress. In fact, I wouldn’t have shut off my game to type this letter of appreciation, if the game didn’t have the potential I feel it does. The detail I’ve described has set such an amazing base for an expandable game that could easily become the most incredible game universes of any game to date.
While exploring fascinates me, it is missing something. And landing on planets will be fantastic, but will only fuel what I feel is missing. It’s my favorite part of the game but I feel like there needs to be a reason, or a way I can benefit from exploring, besides just selling the data. For example, say I find an amazing system full of beautiful rings, minerals and terraform-able planets – will that ever be put to use? Better yet…. Can I put it to use?
The answer and first thing that comes to mind (for me) is a form of persistent storage. It would add so much depth to the game in many different places. Lets take a look at the simplest form.
- A crate in space or on the planet’s surface where you can store your goods or ‘loot’
This fits in with what they are adding already. Imagine landing on a planet, but with the purpose of scouting out an area to bury some cargo or loot… much like the pirates who live hundreds of years ago, except instead of islands in the vast expanse of ocean, it’s on a planet in the vast expanse of space. Your ship would of course save the coordinates for you to easily remember the location…. But in the event that you lost your ship with its computer intact, and someone got a hold of it, it would serve as a treasure map for someone else. X marks the spot. This wouldn’t even create an object the server would have to track, but rather would just be a location.
This isn’t limited to buried crates but floating crates in space as well, and the mechanic would be very similar. Space is so vast and the crate is essentially running dark (if unpowered) much in the same way your ship does, making it very hard to detect. In the same way enemies would be able to track it down using remnants of your ships computer if it survived. This adds a place for pirates or smugglers to temporarily store illegal goods, miners can store cargo and make fewer trips working in tandem with a cargo running buddy, bounty hunters now have something beyond just the bounty…. A map to the previous owners treasure…. All from persistent storage that the server only tracks as a location, or pops a crate into existence for someone floating in space when they receive a ‘map’. A powered crate might be easier to detect.
Lets say current technology allows us to take this a step further, and it should. Lets take a look at the next level, beyond just a location:
- Depot where you can store goods and harvests resources. Extremely expensive downcost credit wise.
Say you find a planet with high methane and you want to make a venture creating mineral oil. It would cost a lot of capital to make a small depot and crew but it could be worth it in the long run. It would probably be easier to detect, losing its defensive aspect on being able to naturally “run dark”. You have crew and power being expended and goods pirates want. Perhaps you could upgrade and add guns. It also gives the player a defensive spot to run to adding strategy to location… but do you want to let the pirates know where your depot is?
This also adds a purpose to pirating in deeper space. Perhaps you find a player depot you want to pray on. You might need four guys to take on a facility since it doesn’t need engines it can use that space towards extra shielding. Maybe it has fighters that try to board you (a feature they are already going to add to the game, according to videos on their YouTube channel).
Some pirates would now be working together more, and others fighting with each other’s hideaways. Law abiding players would also have to work closer with the system authorities. Perhaps paying for patrols by giving a percentage of the profits. Or forming alliances and posses with their neighbors (like the wild west) to hunt down a band of particularly troubling bandits. A lone pirate could also negatively affect a station by intercepting NPC trade (if that was something that existed and was implemented). Landing on planets would also have a purpose as you could scout for various resource sites.
As an explorer running into player created content like this would be absolutely amazing.
There are many levels beyond this but you get the idea. The space is so vast you could go out 200 ly and rarely be bothered especially if you built on a star offset by 100 light seconds from the star people warp in on. There are of course issues this brings with it, but they can all be resolved. For example, player stations could only be destroyed in Open Play, which is fair because you don’t want invisible pirates attacking your base. Likewise, you should probably only be able to interact with your base in open for similar reasons. I’m looking forward to peoples thoughts on the idea and expansion of it as I feel this would add a whole new level of addictiveness to the game.
Also other suggestions that would make exploring more interesting would be awesome. This is just my humble suggestion/solution. Have at it.