Hello Forum, I hope you are all well
I didn’t play ED much after it was first released for various reasons, the main one being that I found there was a big disconnect between the game I was expecting from reading the DDF/Forums and watching David Braben’s evangelising in the Dev Diaries, and the game I installed). Recently though I gave it another go and was glad to discover I hadn’t been chasing nostalgia.
There are some incredible aspects to this game (I can’t wait until my son’s a bit older so I can get him into it too). Flying around our galaxy, taking in the sights, trading, exploring, just getting lost in it all, is awesome. But, there are also some kuckle-chewingly annoying things about ED too.
In fairness, I see this as a good thing overall - if everyone was just ambivalent about ED the game would sink without a trace. From reading the forums I can see there’s a fair few who feel the same way, which just indicates how much of an impact it has had, regardless of whether people are frustrated with it or not.
Anyway, boring stuff aside, my recent playing has thrown up a few questions/issues, and hopefully you lot can help.
1) When you press the Left-Shift button to access the UI Focus mode and the camera zooms back slightly, is there any way to keep the camera at that point? I much prefer the wider view of the cockpit, but I can’t figure out to keep it that way
2) Is there anywhere in-game that gives a proper breakdown/history of the three main powers? I wish that when the game first starts that there had been a brief introduction to give you some context, much like the beginning of Serenity, Bladerunner and many other sci fi films. I was looking at the Powerplay stuff, and that merely confused me further. All the PP characters seem to have no redeeming qualities. The trade overlay in the Galaxy Map is confusing at times.
3) Would people pay for a customisable UI in the cockpit, or would you expect Frontier to release that sort of thing for free? One of the biggest let downs for me (even though I knew it was coming) was when I bought my Hauler, being really excited, and then seeing the UI and feeling like I was in the exact same ship I previously was. I feel it would reduce part of the ‘samey‘ aspect that I’ve seen people mention on the forums. I want to have to learn the controls and UI in each new ship. It could be a good money spinner for FD too.
4) Having mentioned the UI, am I the only one who feels it’s a bit clunky and could do with a bit of an overhaul? For example, it drives me mad that when I’m looking at the Commodities Market that if I want to then look at the Galaxy Map I have to go out of Starport Services into a completely different menu.
5) Is it just me, or is there something a bit weird about the Commodities Market? For a start, reducing the economy of an entire galaxy down to one page is a bit reductive, but also sometimes the market doesn’t seem to work properly. Or maybe it’s just me not being very bright. Any top tips from the traders about how to find a good route?
6) Would other players like to see scanning given a bit of polish? I’m not entirely sure how I’d go about it, but maybe something like a scanning module where you have to interpret visual data as it comes up on screen to give the pilot more of an interactive part to play, rather than just point at something and Boom! scan complete.
6) Since the speed in super cruise seems to effectively be automated, why are some people against the idea of an auto-pilot? When FD release the expansions I’d quite like to walk round my ship during super cruise, and without auto-pilot, or an NPC Co-Pliot, this won’t be possible
7) Captain’s Log? I want to be able to note stuff down in game, not be forced into wasting paper.
Sorry for such a long post
Thanks for your time
Take care.
I didn’t play ED much after it was first released for various reasons, the main one being that I found there was a big disconnect between the game I was expecting from reading the DDF/Forums and watching David Braben’s evangelising in the Dev Diaries, and the game I installed). Recently though I gave it another go and was glad to discover I hadn’t been chasing nostalgia.
There are some incredible aspects to this game (I can’t wait until my son’s a bit older so I can get him into it too). Flying around our galaxy, taking in the sights, trading, exploring, just getting lost in it all, is awesome. But, there are also some kuckle-chewingly annoying things about ED too.
In fairness, I see this as a good thing overall - if everyone was just ambivalent about ED the game would sink without a trace. From reading the forums I can see there’s a fair few who feel the same way, which just indicates how much of an impact it has had, regardless of whether people are frustrated with it or not.
Anyway, boring stuff aside, my recent playing has thrown up a few questions/issues, and hopefully you lot can help.
1) When you press the Left-Shift button to access the UI Focus mode and the camera zooms back slightly, is there any way to keep the camera at that point? I much prefer the wider view of the cockpit, but I can’t figure out to keep it that way
2) Is there anywhere in-game that gives a proper breakdown/history of the three main powers? I wish that when the game first starts that there had been a brief introduction to give you some context, much like the beginning of Serenity, Bladerunner and many other sci fi films. I was looking at the Powerplay stuff, and that merely confused me further. All the PP characters seem to have no redeeming qualities. The trade overlay in the Galaxy Map is confusing at times.
3) Would people pay for a customisable UI in the cockpit, or would you expect Frontier to release that sort of thing for free? One of the biggest let downs for me (even though I knew it was coming) was when I bought my Hauler, being really excited, and then seeing the UI and feeling like I was in the exact same ship I previously was. I feel it would reduce part of the ‘samey‘ aspect that I’ve seen people mention on the forums. I want to have to learn the controls and UI in each new ship. It could be a good money spinner for FD too.
4) Having mentioned the UI, am I the only one who feels it’s a bit clunky and could do with a bit of an overhaul? For example, it drives me mad that when I’m looking at the Commodities Market that if I want to then look at the Galaxy Map I have to go out of Starport Services into a completely different menu.
5) Is it just me, or is there something a bit weird about the Commodities Market? For a start, reducing the economy of an entire galaxy down to one page is a bit reductive, but also sometimes the market doesn’t seem to work properly. Or maybe it’s just me not being very bright. Any top tips from the traders about how to find a good route?
6) Would other players like to see scanning given a bit of polish? I’m not entirely sure how I’d go about it, but maybe something like a scanning module where you have to interpret visual data as it comes up on screen to give the pilot more of an interactive part to play, rather than just point at something and Boom! scan complete.
6) Since the speed in super cruise seems to effectively be automated, why are some people against the idea of an auto-pilot? When FD release the expansions I’d quite like to walk round my ship during super cruise, and without auto-pilot, or an NPC Co-Pliot, this won’t be possible
7) Captain’s Log? I want to be able to note stuff down in game, not be forced into wasting paper.
Sorry for such a long post
Thanks for your time
Take care.
