News ANNOUNCING ELITE DANGEROUS: HORIZONS

[ChrisT]

Just my guess: if they start with airless planets first, that means that flying into planets with atmosphere is going to require more work. Why would it require more work if you would just push a button and taken down? So, I think you will actually be flying down, otherwise, they would support all types of planets.

It takes a LOT more work for Frontier to release planets with atmospheres. Thats it really. Planets with atmospheres, or even moons, will have things like weather... clouds, just think how hard it is to do decent clouds in realtime 3D. Atmospheres planets have more erosion, because of rain, they have rivers, lakes. They can also have native fauna, which would mean some kind of procedural creature systems, to generate sea, land and air animals. Ouch... Also you have plant life, so again, procedural grass, shrubs, bushes, trees etc.

And then you can have intelligent life, with different levels of habition, from a few small mining towns or scientific outpost, all the way out to planets with 15,000,000 peeps there, with mega cities and star ports.

 

[CorBlimey]

OK, planetary landings. Very well but i expected that this was the big Gamescom news.

The trailer looks really good but we already know that Frontier is good with this stuff.

Personally I think it's a little bit early for landings. IMHO the main game lacks a lot of things more important than this...

indeed. First CQC takes focus off actually improving the core game and now this.

 

[CMDR Kantos Kan]

i'm not sure i will be able to save enough money for it but if i buy the lifetime beta pass would i still get that fancy cobra?

If you buy the Lifetime Expansion Pass, you get access to Horizons (and all other future expansions), get access to the Horizons beta and that include the Cobra MkIV.

 

[andrak]

This wording seems contrived and ambiguous "another full season of major gameplay expansions"

Why write it in this way and what does this mean exactly? Does this mean that there will be within "another full season" multiple expansions beyond Horizons that are also required to be paid for? Or that Horizon includes a full season of major gameplay expansions?

To expect the same amount of money as the cost of the original game there needs to be more information available as to what exactly Horizons includes. One blog post on the community site is not going to cut it.

 

[Jesters09]

It's landings Jim, but not as we know it.

So....we can land on lifeless rocks, but not earth worlds.

It is promising though, they have not been ruled out and might come in a second expansion.

Is this second expansion part of the whole Horizons pack, or will it be the third instalment ie the next pay for DLC?

I like what I'm hearing, but FD are not fantastic at either clarity or content in their information.

 

[Karl Marx]

Great news!

So, for those of us who were in alpha/beta and normally get beta access to game content already, will we have the horizons beta access already or do we need to buy the slightly more expensive horizon beta from the store at 49.99euro? I'd hope not. Please make that clear.

 

[Craudin]

So, just to make sure, for how long now the lifetime pass will be available at the store?

 

[Cradle2Grave]

So, just to make sure, for how long now the lifetime pass will be available at the store?

And how long does it last?

My flippancy aside, that's a good question.

 

[Ozric]

This wording seems contrived and ambiguous "another full season of major gameplay expansions"

Why write it in this way and what does this mean exactly? Does this mean that there will be within "another full season" multiple expansions beyond Horizons that are also required to be paid for? Or that Horizon includes a full season of major gameplay expansions?

To expect the same amount of money as the cost of the original game there needs to be more information available as to what exactly Horizons includes. One blog post on the community site is not going to cut it.

It means the latter, it has been confirmed in this thread and in the twitch stream by DB

 

[Patrick_68000]

A giant step for the game. And the principle of the seasons is very well thought and should allow the durability of the game for long years. Congratulations Frontier ! An important qualitative jump today in the already existing quality

 

[lysan]

We've always said that we'd come at it in stages - it's a massive amount of development!

Michael

Hi @Michael, thank you for all the work the whole team has done, I'm really looking forward to see what you have created.
I agree 100% that we all knew that from day one. First airless moons, and then planets with an atmosphere.

Yes it's a massive amount of work, and I want to see it done right. There has been to much PG done wrong in the past, and we know that it can be done right if one put the effort into it.

only one note, and that is please do not forget the details when we get closer to machine parts, ship parts etc. It's those small things that make a game great in the long run.

Cheers and congratulation to all at FDEVS.

 

[Mosait]

If you buy the Lifetime Expansion Pass, you get access to Horizons (and all other future expansions), get access to the Horizons beta and that include the Cobra MkIV.

Just to clarify, you get access to ALL betas:

"For a limited time only, players will be able to purchase a Lifetime Expansion Pass granting access to all current and future Seasons ofElite: Dangerous. The Lifetime Expansion Pass also includes access to allElite: DangerousBeta builds to gain an early glimpse at upcoming game content before release plus exclusive content."

I was a little wary about the mkIV, since it's not mentioned in the statement above (it is mentioned on the store page in regards to purchasing the preorder of ED:H with E)

 

[Barlock995]

What about players on the xbox one platform? Does the same deal apply? Can we get the pass through the frontier store or do we need the microsoft store??

 

[ROSS-128]

So... let's say I plan to not get this expansion until a year or so after it launches.

How will my gameplay be affected in the meantime?

What will happen if I'm chasing someone who has the expansion in the general vicinity of a planet?

What will happen if I wing up with someone who has the expansion?

Will stations generate missions that I need the expansion in order to complete, or will those missions be kept "off the list" until I'm actually able to do them?

What happens if I shoot a planet with my ship's mining laser?

If I fly down to the surface of a planet without entering orbital cruise, what will happen?

Can you attack landed ships? If you are away from your ship, will you receive an alert that it is under attack?

What happens if you die outside your ship? Do you respawn in the ship?

Will I be able to still get the "existing account" discount a year from launch, will the expansion eventually be available by itself (for people who already own the base game) at a lower price later on?

If another paid expansion is released before I acquire Horizons, will that also be cumulative or will those be two separate purchases?

 

[Cradle2Grave]

To be honest, I am excited by this announcement.

 

[Mogwai]

I bought Elite Dangerous including the lifetimepass shortly before the Game was released, does that mean i have access to the Cobra MK IV also?

 

[Frop]

A giant step for the game. And the principle of the seasons is very well thought and should allow the durability of the game for long years. Congratulations Frontier ! An important qualitative jump today in the already existing quality

I think I missed the elaborate explanation of whatever "seasons" are supposed to be, could you please provide me a link?

 

[Surly_Badger]

Some of us aren't very keen on buying love, though. That said, if I pay a visit to my local brothel I'm pretty sure what I'm going to get for 40 euros.

A watered-down drink? A glass of milk?

Seriously, though - I've commented this elsewhere: so far my ED experience is working out to about $5/month. $6/month if you factor in a few ship skins. I used to pay $15/month for World of Warcraft and thought that was a good deal. When I buy the expansion, my monthly cost for ED may go up to a whopping $8/month for 2016. I find that remarkably cheap. But then I prefer the $3000/night escorts not the cheap European brothel flies.

 

[Patrick_68000]

No one is forcing you to buy it. But yes it is pricey!

Not really. The season "Horizons" includes several major update

 

[tinmouse]

Hay all, can someone please tell us what time, UK time, this announcement will be made in GamesCom this evening on Xbox live. Thanks in advance.