All the answers from "AMA IV - Happy 33o7" collated into one post

To be copy pasta'd here
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/krtzlq/all_the_answers_from_frontiers_ama_iv_happy_33o7/


Happy 33o7 commanders!

We're back for another round of our AMA with the Elite Dangerous Community Team!

Post any questions you would like to see answered in this thread and we'll do our best to respond to as many of them as we can! Don't worry if we can't answer your questions right now, we'll bring as many as possible to our development team, to see what answers they can share in the future!

To get the most out of this AMA please keep in the mind the following before posting:
  1. Please keep it to one question per post
  2. Please keep questions short and to the point. We'll focus on answering as many questions as we can so may not get round to yours if it takes too long to read through.
  3. Please don't ask any unrevealed lore or future plot questions, we can't spoil things for you.
  4. If you have a suggestion please post it in the suggestions forum.
  5. If you have found a bug or issue please post it in the Issue Tracker
  6. Please check out what questions have come before you as we're unlikely to answer duplicate questions
  7. Please keep it friendly and constructive
  8. We won't be announcing any release dates in this thread
  9. Please do not reply to other players in the thread
The AMA will be open for 1 hour where we will do our best to respond to as many posts as possible.

To avoid asking common questions that have been answered already, here are a few frequently asked questions and their answers:

Will we have the possibility to have our CMDR Names marked on planets in the style of: "First landed on by CMDR X"?
Yes, we will log first footfall on a per CMDR basis

Can I walk around my ship interior?
While Odyssey will see players explore a wide range of on and off world locations including station interiors, ship interiors will not be included at launch. We understand that the bond between Commander and starship is incredibly strong and know this will disappointing news for some. However, we believe it is right to invest our development time in locations and features which offer the most meaningful experience and gameplay for all players. Rest assured that Odyssey will offer a great variety of long requested locations to explore, both on land and in space.

Will we be able to use our current clothing in Odyssey?
Yes, everything you own is usable in Odyssey.

If a player isn't into FPS combat will that part of the expansion be optional?
Elite Dangerous has always been about allowing you to blaze your own trail, this will continue in Odyssey. Combat will always be optional for Commanders.

Will we be able to fly other CMDRs' ships in Odyssey? Whether if it's by multicrew or stealing?
No, only the Commander that owns that ship can fly their ship. However, players will be able to deploy in that Commander’s SRV or SLF with physical multicrew.

Will powerplay see any changes in Odyssey?
Powerplay will be discussed at a later date!

What are the plans for networking in Odyssey? Will it be p2p or will it be server based for FPS gameplay?
The underlying network structure is the same as the rest of ED i.e. p2p so that the experience is seamless for players

Will there be a possibility of mining on the surface of planets in Odyssey?
Whilst we are not looking at mining on foot at this time, you will be able to visit small mining settlements.

Will Fleet Carriers get interiors in Odyssey?
We have nothing to add on this at this moment in time.

Can you be attacked by NPCs in Odyssey without opening fire?
Yes.

Can you give some examples of the suits we will be using in Odyssey?
You'll have access to a range of suits, such as: Flight suit, exploration suits, combat suits & scavenger suits.

What can you tell us about Raxxla?
Well, what we can say is REDACTED and REDACTED!

When can we pre-order on consoles?
We'll let everyone know the moment they can get their hands on pre-orders for consoles.

o7



Tritium directly to carrier depot instead of to shipt first - is this a possibility?
We've heard this suggestion! It's something that we can consider.


when will everyone have access to the Alpha, do we know a date yet?
We'll be sharing all the lovely details on how and when you can access the alpha later on


Will console players have Alpha access too or they will have to wait for the full release ?
That's unconfirmed as of yet, once we have more information about console purchases and pre-orders, we'll announce it.


In Odyssey, when using magnetic boots in outposts will you be able to "accidentally" walk up the wall?
Good question! We can't confirm that right now but we'll ask the development team!


What's the currently planned release date for the various stages of Odyssey now that we are already 'a few days' past the new year?
It's slated for earlier this year but we're not announcing the exact date just yet. When we can share more we'll be happy to do so.


Are delivery missions going to be tweaked? Follow-ups are not exactly lucrative...
How far would you adjust the delivery follow-up missions?


Are there going to be dynamically generated bases or will all bases be static assets?
Good question, we've added it to our list to ask the development team!


when we deploy on foot from our ships, will we be able to see them in a higher level of detail than we do now in the SRV and camera suite?
I don't think ships will receive a graphical rework, but can double check. Planets and their formations are getting an overhaul for sure.


I believe there is a "lore bible" that Frontier uses to ensure consistency in ED. Has thought been made to making this available in some form (PDF as per the art books, part of the website or some other means) so that fan fiction writers can follow it and those that are nosey (like me ;)) can read it?
Definitely not


I'm sure you mentioned a Q&A session the CM team had with developers post coming just before the holiday period, was delayed once as there ended up being more questions you guys were answering? am I going nuts? (it's possible tbf)
You aren't going nuts! We're still working on it. Hopefully by the end of this week, if not, in the next couple.


Is there anything you can tell us about the interior design of ships in combination with the coming update - even if its "not included at launch"?
Ship Interiors will not be included at launch. If you'd like to learn more about Ship Interiors and Odyssey then check out this thread.


Are there any plans to change the infinite supply of DSS probes now that all players have Horizons access?
No plans currently - would you prefer these were limited in supply and bought like limpets? Sounds rough for explorers.


Will streamers be allowed to stream the alpha version of Odyssey?
We'll have more details in the future about this!


How does the FPS section work on consoles for Hotas users? Will we need to swap to an Xbox controller?
This is a question we've seen raised a few times. We don't have a definitive answer just yet but this is on our list of questions we hope to be able to answer for you in a future post.


Any chance of a bump to Salvage values in the near future?
We significantly increased the value of salvage in the round of balance changes near the end of last. Are there some that weren't changed you want increased too or do you think they should be adjusted further? If so, how much would you suggest?


Is there a minimum PC spec for Odyssey? Looking at all the graphical wonderousness on the previews, I'm scared my rig is going to die under the strain :D
We're aiming for similar specs to the current game.


Really to stop rampant speculation, but what are the repercussions of Lakon being bought out? Some people are freaking out that Lakon will just shrivel up and all ships locked / stop being sold- what is the scope of change Galnet stories can achieve? The same for Mahon, some Alliance fools think a new Power is going to pop up if Eddie loses. I get you can't divulge plot, but how much can Galnet be allowed to change?
We can't go into detail about this right now as we don't want to spoil story details. We have no plans for ships to become unavailable, though.


Will Odyssey introduce any new ships or ground-based vehicles in addition to the SRV?
We don't have anything to announce on that right now. We've still got more Odyssey surprises to reveal so keep an eye on our forums and website for updates.


Normally these AMA threads with the CM team are at school kicking out time in the UK. Are there any plans to vary the time they will be open for to allow other sections of the community the opportunity to ask questions during this short window of opportunity?
We can certainly think about it, we want to fit in time to speak to the community around other things we do during the day, and as of right now this is the best time to do so.


Will we be able to customize the HUD colors in Odyssey?
We don't have anything to announce on HUD colour customisation.


What will players see when physical multicrew deploy from a dropship? Is it a fade to black (like SRVs now), and you are stood outside the ship, or is there some animation or routine (like move to an airlock) before we jump out into battle?
For ship to foot gameplay, the transition will be much like the current ship to SRV transition. I'm not sure specifically for physical multicrew transitions from drop ships, so will ask but expect the same.


I am very keen to know if there are any plans at all to revisit comets and complete visuals for them? I think it would be an awesome addition to the game to have another type of solar object that we can visit. I know from reading older forum posts that they were included in the stellar forge and they are actually already in the galaxy, we just cant see them. One example being the Pareco system that has a number of stations orbiting a comet.
This is something we can certainly ask the development team about!


We know that VR gameplay is not planned for Odyssey (but there is the in-cockpit flat-screen option), however would it be possible to add a VR camera option to the vanity cam? Just a simple way to stand in the world of Odyssey, in VR. No gameplay or movement needs to be attached. This would provide a way for content creators to record in VR in Odyssey (and is also life-or-death for a certain mechanic's videos). :)
That's a great suggestion, we'll pass it along for consideration to the Odyssey dev team. It'd be fantastic to see more of that mechanic!


Will the minor factions be changed or expanded in the Odyssey ?
That's a bit broad as a question, can you specify?


Will some ships be great in thin atmospheres? I.e, will the Federal Dropship be better than a Krait move better/ have advantages?
We'll get this one answered by the dev team!


Following the VR questions, is it coming any time soon for PS4/5 ?
We don't have any current announcements for PlayStation VR support.


Can they be bought or synthesised and then you can remove the time delay after firing 3 probes? Pilots who use probes carefully need to synthesise less of them. Those that prefer to just spam 50 probes quickly can do that too. While you're at it, remove the need to be going so slowly to fire them - if they miss because I'm going too fast, they miss (could be an engineering mod)
Sounds reasonable, although my personal take is that the annoyance of this nerf after all this time would outweigh the benefit of a small amount of extra realism


Will Thargoids be out and about for the Odyssey FPS side of things? So we can see them in all their alien glory? And shoot them dead?
Spoilers


Any chance that we can remote control experimental effect in engineering ?
There are currently no plans for this, do you have any idea how you would want this implemented?

Stations and FC.
Noted, thanks!


Will we see a richer story line this year now Gal Net is back ? Lots of twists and turns and community goals that result in big changes ?
Yes.


Will FD be making the Panther Clipper as an ironic SLF?
This is doubtful.

So a full size Panther is on the cards then? We know you have it :D
Nice try!


Are there any planned changes to Fer-de-Lance coming? Given it's complete hegemony in the PVP world.
We don't have plans to announce, but will be considering PvP as a whole this year.


In an expansion attempt for a Power, is exactly half favorable factions enough to get reduced triggers? We've had both situations happening, so it would be interesting to know which is a bug and which is not.
You need a clear majority of friendly systems for thresholds to be reduced.


Will there be any non-letal weaponry in Odyssey?
This one is already on our list to ask the dev team!


Is Odyssey for Xbox going to be optimised for Series X/S?
We don't currently have anything to announce on any Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 specific versions of Elite Dangerous or Elite Dangerous: Odyssey. We can confirm that you will be able to play on the new consoles via their backwards compatibility features.


Will there be new engineers to upgrade hand held weapons? And new guardian sites to unlock hand held guardian weapons? ;)
There will be new Engineers! We'll go into more detail at a later date.


What triggers happiness in Factions? It seems random.
It's based on their active states in their various star systems. Some states increase happiness, others decrease it.


Stations and FC.
Noted, thanks!


And that's that for this week. Thanks for all your questions, we will be taking some of your Odyssey questions to our development team to answer in the future. We'll be back next week but for now, happy 33o7 Commanders!



@SCiARA ;)
 
Last edited:
I wonder who asked that first question.
 
I think that the actual lack of answers in their AMA is odd! 😤

So we are still no better informed over Odyssey, other than being reassured that they have even more to show us, than we were this morning 🤷‍♂️

Maybe the promised info "later this week, or in the next couple", will guide us.
 
I think that the actual lack of answers in their AMA is odd! 😤

So we are still no better informed over Odyssey, other than being reassured that they have even more to show us, than we were this morning 🤷‍♂️

Maybe the promised info "later this week, or in the next couple", will guide us.

Yeah it seems a little vague on information of use!
 

Deleted member 182079

D
It wasn't an entirely serious question;)
 
My main hope is the questions they say they can't answer, that they will ask the development team, will be posted later.

I'm not certain of the state of previous AMAs, whether they actually followed up on those and gave answers. Anyone confirm they did?
 
Normally these AMA threads with the CM team are at school kicking out time in the UK. Are there any plans to vary the time they will be open for to allow other sections of the community the opportunity to ask questions during this short window of opportunity?
We can certainly think about it, we want to fit in time to speak to the community around other things we do during the day, and as of right now this is the best time to do so.
Global customer base, local mindset. (sigh)
 
My main hope is the questions they say they can't answer, that they will ask the development team, will be posted later.

I'm not certain of the state of previous AMAs, whether they actually followed up on those and gave answers. Anyone confirm they did?
They followed up with a bunch of answers here:
 
The only surprising answer (to me) was when they said they 'didn't know' if consoles would be in the Alpha. Kinda makes you think the alpha can't be that close, if they don't even know what platforms are in it 🤷‍♀️
An alpha will generally have a lot of bugs and issues. The console providers might not allow that outside of an "Early Access" format like when Elite first arrived on Xbox in Summer 2015, which may not be allowed for a game expansion (i.e. standalone games only).

While FDev may have made enquiries they might simply not know what the console providers will decide until the alpha build is ready for Sony/Microsoft to them to test.
 
Back
Top Bottom