And I'm David Braben
Big Rant! Directed at ED dev team
- Thread starter Kaned-Dragon
- Start date
I share most of your frustrations, and when I say most is because I stopped reading at the first chapter due to time. It took me almost 2 years to get the corvette and now I have been stuck with 2 ranks missing to get the cutter. I have my ships at Wu Guinagui to grind the remaining ranks and know it could now be done in a few hours, but I just can’t stand the grind. PTSD from all the grinding.
I am not interested in SC because it won’t have VR support, plus it seems like they have their share of development issues as well.
Anyway, sorry for not reading the whole thing, but regardless of the reasons I share your pain, and there are a lot of us: unsatisfied customers. Some people will say, “if you don’t like it go play something else”. Well we paid good money (over $300 for me) and at least I have hope that things will improve. Others are not that resilient and this month, despite the expo and the “great” thargoid invasion, they suffered a 15% drop in player count, lower than at the same last year. I think its time to get things fixed and show some results, and it doesnt need to be big story changing ones, the smaller things make a lot of difference too and theres plenty of issues and complaints already around in the forums.
I am not interested in SC because it won’t have VR support, plus it seems like they have their share of development issues as well.
Anyway, sorry for not reading the whole thing, but regardless of the reasons I share your pain, and there are a lot of us: unsatisfied customers. Some people will say, “if you don’t like it go play something else”. Well we paid good money (over $300 for me) and at least I have hope that things will improve. Others are not that resilient and this month, despite the expo and the “great” thargoid invasion, they suffered a 15% drop in player count, lower than at the same last year. I think its time to get things fixed and show some results, and it doesnt need to be big story changing ones, the smaller things make a lot of difference too and theres plenty of issues and complaints already around in the forums.
Thankfully with this being a public discussion forum you don't need to take the trouble to specifically invite responses to your posts.
Well why didn't you make atmospheric landings from day one then Dave? It's no use coming here complaining to other people when you could have just sorted it out yourself.
Seriously though, saying that E D not having atmospheric landings makes it a backward step compared to FE2 is ludicrous. I mean you are aware that there's been ever such a slight increase in the complexity of games software since the Amiga days, right? Conflating this:
with what would be expected for atmospheric landings in a game in 2017 is patently absurd.
That was the biggest rant I’ve ever had for a game. And yeah, as I wrote it. My mind was split between I have to say this! And "Way to go Moron, Your level of stupidity has blown my mind!".
To the Dev’s and the forum users I want to Apologies for my comments.
It was said out of frustration, and gamer anger. I don't like it when people burst out like I did either, so I'm a bit annoyed at myself.
And sorry for using a lot of "We" as though I'm talking for the community and other gamer's.
Elite has been going since my birth. it's heritage will likely out last me lol.
Here’s a more formulated reply. And yeah it’s big, done it in sections this time.
1.To much grinding = Outburst explained.
2.Where’s the tongue in cheek humour is this game.
3.Stagnation explanation
4.Star Trek, Bab 5, Star Wars, I’ll try to explain
SenseiMatty
I didn't even know there were planetary landings in Elite 2.
That is so a back step if elite 2 had planet landings and this doesn't.
Imagine if in GTA 5 you drowned in the water like GTA3.
Or if you played the next COD and didn't have drone strikes or something?
These day's you CAN'T drop something from your new game if it was something possible and enjoyed in the old game,,,,,,, not without consequences and questions. "you did it before, why not now?" Verbal urination, and things of that nature.
I hope they're holding back because they want it to be perfect or make us go WOW!
1.I think I know what caused my outburst.
I’ve been grinding for too long on a venture with no satisfying game outcome.
I’ve been grinding for a new ship, I was hating the anaconda, But I wasn’t using it right. Doing quick trips from one station to another doing the imperial missions. So hardly making many credits and slow progress. I’ve gotten stuck and fixated on a goal that is going to take a long time, Forgetting about all the other things I can do in the game.
I've been playing ED for a while now 800+ hours,and I've enjoyed all of it.
And I have been wandering why I'm suddenly getting frustrated.
For one I think for me at least the universe feels half finished, and they have already brought out the big bad guys,,, well over the next year or so. That is what's bumming me out. They've brought out the big bad old enemy before finishing The universe and the game mechanics and features that for me at least are at this time, kind of essential for a rounded space game with a good foundation.
And they are rushing the bad guys in to make up for not having certain features. Or they consider having a big enemy more important than getting the universe fully settled.
What do I mean by that? For the settled bit basically go to the bottom. But.
For a good modern day space game I need to be able to fly about like I'm driving a car, I can stop and start when I want, turn when I want, nothing really dictating what I want to do, other than fuel and ship limitations. Planets and Moons that I can land on unless the gravity or composition of the planets will destroy my ship. fighting, mining, trading, discovering, uncovering, helping, destroying, some customization and world building. Aliens good and bad. And a deep world to explore, with complex inter working economies. Both flying and driving and running and walking. A kind of Imitation of real life. The things we can't do in real life that we want to do.
Previous games like the old elite games had hardware limitation, but we simply don't have those limitations anymore.
The PlayStation is less powerful than the PC’s some of us use, and it’s doesn’t seem to have any trouble dealing with the game.
So It’s not a hardware issues.
Just the complexity of the coding?
That sodding SC podcast, that did exactly what it was designed to do. Get me all hot and flustered.
How many times have we heard that before. It's going to be amazing,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, maybe??!!!! And god knows when it'll be out and in what state. Damn you Chris Roberts!!!!!!
Anyway;
Elite is a working game, that is constantly being updated.
2.But! There isn’t enough tongue in cheek humor!
I watched the Scott manly vid of the original elite, and the descriptions of the planets or cultures were funny.
"The world Gema is reasonably noted for Mud Tennis and the Gemian evil poet",,,,,,,,,,Mud Tennis you say! Evil Poet!
I be intrigued!
Even a tiny little thing like that might change my opinion on what to do suddenly. At the moment it's purely the numbers which decide.
A scene of humour,tongue in cheek.
Where's the drunk pilot trying to take off from the stations crashing into things as they go.
Where's the guard drones shouting exterminate as they chase you.
Where's the cargo mission to ship a bunch of cows to a settlement somewhere.
Again it might be me being Moron!!!!! and not noticing but it almost seems like the Dev's have been working so hard on updates for the game, they have forgotten to have fun.
When I used the docking computer, it players the classical music used in 2001 a space odyssey. That's kinda tongue in cheek.
But with all the missions, and things we can do, there at least for me,,,,,,,, well it all comes across as very surgical, again like they were so focused on getting it done, they didn’t stop to put an Easter egg or funny in.
When I picked up a rich tourist and they ask me to pick something up. The message is just, commander please pick up blaa blaa blaa, i wish to be comfortable. Or something like that. How about a really snide stuck up message. “Oh Commander, I demand the finest luxury velvet satin sheets from the furthest reaches of know space!!”,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Open Airlock!!!
When I pick up cargo it feels like number swapping. I don't see the ship jolt as the cargo get loaded into the ships, and the sound of the cargo being loaded,,,if that is the sound, isn’t conveying and convincing me it got loaded, at least any more. I haven't noticed a change in performance of the ship, again that could be me.
A little extra object animations around the ship in the stations or sound, would go so far.
When I come across an emissions detection while in warp. And it's a destroyed ship, all we get is maybe a container to pick up which at least has a purpose. And debris of the ship. I can't let's say, scan the debris, and find out what ship it was, what it was called of where it came from. Let the pilots family know he wont be back for Christmas.
Let's take the wedding broadcasts we sometimes see. "three cheers to the happy couple!",,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "what who's getting married? Which station or ship is that coming from. If I go and land. I don't see a wedding ship with the wedding decor on it.
There is doing things because it's fun and doing things because it accomplishes something. Almost everything in ED that accomplishes something after you've done it once becomes frustrating after a time. Not even satisfying atm.
ED is get a mission go there, press a button mission complete.
3.I kept using the word stagnant. What I meant by that is, well, partly the humour and also partly the surgical mechanics, and lifelessness of it all.
I think it's stagnant because it's very much go here role the dice. Do this roll the dice. It's get a mission numbers change, go to the destination numbers change.
If there are two factions that are at war. All I have is a business description.
Because I can't directly see other characters other than the still images of the stations commanders and business peeps I don't register a character, it's just a place holder. So I have no human interaction.
That’s what I meant by having a little movement there blinking of the eyes, very slight wobble. They go from a painting to a person.
I don't care which faction controls a station because there both just a bunch of text that goes on about ship numbers, economy growth. The company goals, rather than a company that employers people to work for them. With investors, people to answer to. Maybe there are tired, up against the wall or something.
I get the impression, peeps in the Alliance are more forward thinking, the empire are aristocrats, the federation come across as conservative and the independents are the pirate / crazy thinker types. However what about the people that live in the systems, how do they feel? And because power play is a picture of the person and a political statement, not a voice, broadcast or something I can't relate to it in real life. I don't get attached.
I can't go to the planets that have an atmosphere that might be inhabited. Talk or trade, mine, farm, hunt, build or walked about and admire the views, cultures, sounds. I'll never care anything about them.
All I have to go on are local transmissions, and a description goal the different groups are trying to accomplish. Not what started it, or talking to the guys on the front. People who will get effected by my actions.
The phrase, it's not to destination it's the journey. Well I'm only doing the journey for the outcome, credits. The journey is no longer satisfying. The universe feel unsatisfying.
When I've done exploring," which I've started again after the rant, as I needed to be alone for a while collecting my thoughts, finding myself, as you do sometimes, gonna Zen out with the dead aliens for a bit I think"
I find myself just warping and warping, then ill find a system with lot's planets. Now if those planets have already been scanned by someone, I don't bother checking them out. Because scanning planets has become a number gain task and I wont get the discovery bonus. I don't care if they look interesting because I've kinda seen it before and the really interesting planets can only be looked at from a far. And the actually game mechanic of scanning planets, is boring.
You get close enough and the ship starts scanning automatically.
I want to do a Spock for a moment. I want to look into a scanner and kinda do it myself, I want to see the data on the planet to slowly emerge. Maybe find a faint power reading.
Because it's a game mechanic that just happens and I have no control, the actual act of exploring becomes boring. Flying to the balls is always fun but you can only look at a ball with a texture and some shader's for so long before it's boring.
If I get jacked by some pirates, yes i do get that comms text, but as I said before, I hardly notice it. All I need is a voice to say over the comms "Oi! you drop the cargo or your dead". Same sort of comms chat we get when asking for docking.
My comments of Galnet and news, I want to expand and explain what I meant.
Galnet in it’s current format, when you access it from a stations menu. That news system should be for the local smaller news, I don’t mind text based stories in that format. Local football team won or lost. Local celebrity in scandal. Farmers union on strike. Gives me a taste of the local goings on.
But big news, both in game even maybe game development news like the updates, assignations attempts, government coup, Thargoid or Guardian news. I would like to be able to open a TV channel on either one of the panels in the cockpit like the upper left comms panel, or in the power play map windows. Real life “actors green screen” or even semi animated Hologram. But a real looking and sounding news service and experience. Doesn’t have to look great on that upper left panel or which ever panel you’d put in on. Have it on in the background. May be even ones for the different powers. Giving out there own version of the news lies and propaganda. Explaining current event with the superpowers, economics, populations growth and decline, current situation with colonia and community goals would remind us those are happening. Twice a month or something.
I actually have this happen with Radio Sidewinder, I’ll be playing away listening to the tunes. And then they do a news segment, and that's were I’m learning about community goals. Sometimes I’ll hear about one that interests me.
Doesn't spoil the immersion, it creates it! and those funny adverts, referring to humor in the game.
I know I shouldn't compare ED to SC or any other game, but guess what.
Ido!
The same way I compare COD to Battle field. Or the way I compared GTA to Saints Row. Or Forza Motorsport to Need for speed or any other racing game.
Because 1 the designers were making a game that replicated something they wanted to do in real life that we can't just simply do. They just took different approaches. (Racing game, don’t matter how you do that, car needs to feel and act like it does in real life)
And 2 Because I’ve always done with this games where I start dreaming of what could they do in the next game, difference is this game is being constantly worked on. So I’m hoping some of these ideas get into Elite, because I got a feeling This one will be around for a long time, some of them are already being asked for, some are things people have wanted for along time now. Because things like the planet landings, they are set in the space fiction.
Any space game these days will be compared to previous space games and some films (Inter Stella, and Elites warping effect around black holes, both seemed to come out at the same time. I never saw that before. Nice!) especially if it's not trying to be arcade.
And when it comes to space games they are the ones that are having the biggest growth and evolution right now at this time.
It's not just the graphics, but the universe and economies and lot's more.
GTA5 is basically the lighting and physics.We're already doing what we want to do. Bank robberies, chases shoot-outs. Massacres. Now we can go in a sub and really fly the aircraft.
Mass effect had the walking and FP shooting, but no space flying.
Evochron Merc, that had almost everything I wanted, but graphics were poor and like early ED there's was very little to do. But you can go down on planets in that.
Eve is a card game mixed with some spacey animations. No direct flying the ship, cockpit view. Static painted characters. More like work.
No Mans sky landing on planets and station, won’t getting the cons with that game.
Elite is the dominator at the moment. I’m invested in the series now, I want it to both succeed and set the bench mark.
The Elite Developers have already set a bench mark.
The whole milky way, as accurate as they can make with current tech limits and current data of what’s out there.
Doesn’t matter how big and detailed the ships, guns, planets and stations are in SC, I wont be able to fly to the edge of the other side of the galaxy. 400 billion + system.
But I at least know they are working on walking and maybe planet landings, I just wish I had a confirmation, possible date, maybe screenshot. Especially after seeing that podcast.
4. I'll try and explain the star trek. star wars comparisons.
Star trek, Babylon 5, Firefly to name a few are based in; if some what loosely based in this galaxy and universe. Earth, humans, politics.
Well Elite has the milky way, the sizes of planets are 1 to 1 and the economy and human populous seem kinda realistic what may happen in the future. The set up, with different governments, trade routes. bla bla, unknown aliens.
Faster than light joy riding, space trucking fun.
From what I've heard SC will be in a small area of the milky way. With lots of place and things to see. Now yes the physics, ships, stations and planets looked pretty much like what I would expect at this high end tech point.
But there was also something really sugar land fantasy about it.
Now I don't know what they planning with SC but I get the feeling they will spend more time on the ships, weapons, places, shops and eye candy and fan service, instead of a mystery, intrigue, exploration,aliens and Political development and consequence.
SC might be More about the things a player can do rather than a breathing universe.
Star wars is a fantasy universe, with actually not much to it. With star wars it's really just the jedi, the empire, the force, tatooine, and lightsabers. Once you get past that, there isn't much to the default star wars universe. Unless you go digging. And that's the impression I got from SC. At least at this stage.
It’s never going to have the depth of Elite, Elite’s only problem is some key things are missing. After that, the Dev’s can put any number of scenarios, ideas, intrigues, alien races. Once the foundations is down.
What I'm trying to convey is ED already has a breathing universe, In my opinion it has one major core mechanic missing. Literally the planet landings are especially important now we can land on moons. Far more important than the thargoid appearing at this time.
Because once that one core mechanic is implemented, that’s it!! ED have got something no one else will have.
And anything you add than is just icing on the cake!
And from what I've seen of the ED game engine, and the skill of the Dev's, that core feature is not only possible, but ED dev's might be able to get it working better than other.
Yes, a lot of these ideas are daydreams, they would be insanely difficult to design, create, implement, and test.
And a lot of the ideas are derived from film fantasy or older games, which can’t be put into a game, let alone this game.
ED's design and mechanics are what they are.
It’s constantly under development.
Which is probably why I burst out.
The first aliens we get, don’t seem friendly. The only other sigh of another alien life form, appear to have been gone for a long time.
I still can’t down to a planet with trees, forest, oceans, towns cities, mountains, cultures.
We got the holograms THANK YOU ED DEV's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a start, it shows you're working on it, which at least give's me hope, and that's all ya need sometimes.
There commanders who have already flown to the other side of the galaxy and back. "Never going to be able to do that in SC atm"
I've done a bit of exploring.
And how many of you have been out exploring, or driving about on a planet and in the back of you're mind hoping to see something, even if you have read the developers release notes, and you know you won't find anything, but still in the back of your mind, always hoping. and I mean more than a downed satellite, I mean and Easter egg, or things like the alien ruins.
And like I said, if I do find a little outpost or mining thing. I want to know who owns it, what's it mining for, how many people work in there. How often does it get supply runs. Right now it's a place holder with no in game action, other than scan and get warned off or shot at. Not even a voice saying " off!!!".
You know how in films you get protagonists. A character the audience can relate to. Those characters are sometimes used to help the audience get involved more emotionally with the story, the settings, the places. So they can put themselves in the situation.
Well there isn't anything in ED that I can relate to. No action or mechanic, no character, or places that, I can really care or relate to.
The closest I've come is that moment when you in glide mode coming down into a moon, and the ground comes up. And you get a gauge of the planets size.
I can relate to that, from both movie’s and flying in planes as a passenger, looking through the windows.
Suddenly seeing how uneven the topology is and high the mountains can go. Realizing just how tiny I am compared to this place, when just a moment ago it was a tiny dot in front of me.
I can't relate to the stations, any of them, because I haven't been on one, and because its' not in VR I can't gauge the size.
For some reason the station just seem like I'm looking through a fish lens. I'm not getting the impact of how big they are.
The people, economies, governments and pirates, the wars. the ever changing states the systems are in.
I just can't invest or relate to any of it. Because I haven’t found anything that helps me link with the Elite universe.
I’m not saying we need a character to do that. I mean the world doesn’t conveys itself to us the players that well.
That’s a very hard one to explain. Especially when I use the word protagonist in reference to a game with no characters.
I saw the shots of the new shader system, which looks fantastic, so sick of Baige.
But I'm worried the surgically nature of the galaxy wont change, and if it's does it will be far too far away in the future.
SETTLED
I'll use Babylon 5 to iterate my beef with the Thargoid appearance and what I mean by Settled.
It took 2 seasons before the shadow story line really took off. For 2 seasons they built up the world and only gave glimpses of the big enermy. We knew about them, that was kinda it.
The first season was getting us up to speed with the universe, the races, the key characters. Key History plot points.
The second season winded up with the earth government going crazy an becoming more anti alien, and turning into a dictatorship. and the alien races were ready for an all out galactic war.
By the time the shadows turned up in the third season, we had been giving enough time to become fully invested in the key characters the key plot points and the importance of key locations.
And that's why I think the Thargoid's should be opened up to us very slowly. And the Dev's should get the galaxy finished. Landing on atmosphere planets, maybe a couple of alien races that are about the same tech level as us. Fully Developed planets.
Power play, the governments again I don't really know who they are or what they really stand for. I was hoping some more development happened with that, So I was able to get invested in a party or side.
I heard there is a war between the empire and the federation, but I really haven't seen or heard enough in game for that to make any impact of the game.
That’s what I mean by SETTLED
Both the universe, governments, haven't settled.
I haven’t settled anywhere, I haven’t started a small settlement on a moon, chosen a side with any of the governments, mined, traded. Maybe even merged with another player.
Getting a sensible amount of credits coming my when like when allied to a power. And Paying some taxes, in case I loose stuff.
Join up with a power and have been stationed somewhere for a bit and learnt about the people there. Made connect and friends.
Or worked with a large player group and earned enough for there own mega corp, with ties into the governments and military. Yeah the Thargoids threaten that, that’s a big deal.
A little workshop where I can paint the ship or decorate it, maybe get a bobble head of the Spock on the dash, and a poster of Freddie mercury up on the wall or And A jukebox cranking out the tunes.
Yes I can do community goals to get the big station in colonia, and I think I heard about some new stations that players can own together.
But I’m a loner player. I want my own little things too.
Those Thargoids, turn up then and try and destroy my stuff that’s I’ve collected and worked for, or my mates who worked with me to get things.
Yeah the thargoids attack then,,,,,,,,,,I’ll be guns blazing all the way, because I will have attachment to that stuff and those thing I’ve built over time, and got working, that bring a whole new level to my game.
right now,,,,,,,,meh, got nothing, what ever.
….
If you read this far,,, wow, thank you, you crazy nutter!
Again sorry for the out burst, I didn’t mean any irritation to anyone, hoped you got a laugh from my little out burst.
Can’t give the ED Dev team enough credit for what they’ve made so far.
Here's Balok
To the Dev’s and the forum users I want to Apologies for my comments.
It was said out of frustration, and gamer anger. I don't like it when people burst out like I did either, so I'm a bit annoyed at myself.
And sorry for using a lot of "We" as though I'm talking for the community and other gamer's.
Elite has been going since my birth. it's heritage will likely out last me lol.
Here’s a more formulated reply. And yeah it’s big, done it in sections this time.
1.To much grinding = Outburst explained.
2.Where’s the tongue in cheek humour is this game.
3.Stagnation explanation
4.Star Trek, Bab 5, Star Wars, I’ll try to explain
SenseiMatty
I didn't even know there were planetary landings in Elite 2.
That is so a back step if elite 2 had planet landings and this doesn't.
Imagine if in GTA 5 you drowned in the water like GTA3.
Or if you played the next COD and didn't have drone strikes or something?
These day's you CAN'T drop something from your new game if it was something possible and enjoyed in the old game,,,,,,, not without consequences and questions. "you did it before, why not now?" Verbal urination, and things of that nature.
I hope they're holding back because they want it to be perfect or make us go WOW!
1.I think I know what caused my outburst.
I’ve been grinding for too long on a venture with no satisfying game outcome.
I’ve been grinding for a new ship, I was hating the anaconda, But I wasn’t using it right. Doing quick trips from one station to another doing the imperial missions. So hardly making many credits and slow progress. I’ve gotten stuck and fixated on a goal that is going to take a long time, Forgetting about all the other things I can do in the game.
I've been playing ED for a while now 800+ hours,and I've enjoyed all of it.
And I have been wandering why I'm suddenly getting frustrated.
For one I think for me at least the universe feels half finished, and they have already brought out the big bad guys,,, well over the next year or so. That is what's bumming me out. They've brought out the big bad old enemy before finishing The universe and the game mechanics and features that for me at least are at this time, kind of essential for a rounded space game with a good foundation.
And they are rushing the bad guys in to make up for not having certain features. Or they consider having a big enemy more important than getting the universe fully settled.
What do I mean by that? For the settled bit basically go to the bottom. But.
For a good modern day space game I need to be able to fly about like I'm driving a car, I can stop and start when I want, turn when I want, nothing really dictating what I want to do, other than fuel and ship limitations. Planets and Moons that I can land on unless the gravity or composition of the planets will destroy my ship. fighting, mining, trading, discovering, uncovering, helping, destroying, some customization and world building. Aliens good and bad. And a deep world to explore, with complex inter working economies. Both flying and driving and running and walking. A kind of Imitation of real life. The things we can't do in real life that we want to do.
Previous games like the old elite games had hardware limitation, but we simply don't have those limitations anymore.
The PlayStation is less powerful than the PC’s some of us use, and it’s doesn’t seem to have any trouble dealing with the game.
So It’s not a hardware issues.
Just the complexity of the coding?
That sodding SC podcast, that did exactly what it was designed to do. Get me all hot and flustered.
How many times have we heard that before. It's going to be amazing,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, maybe??!!!! And god knows when it'll be out and in what state. Damn you Chris Roberts!!!!!!
Anyway;
Elite is a working game, that is constantly being updated.
2.But! There isn’t enough tongue in cheek humor!
I watched the Scott manly vid of the original elite, and the descriptions of the planets or cultures were funny.
"The world Gema is reasonably noted for Mud Tennis and the Gemian evil poet",,,,,,,,,,Mud Tennis you say! Evil Poet!
I be intrigued!
Even a tiny little thing like that might change my opinion on what to do suddenly. At the moment it's purely the numbers which decide.
A scene of humour,tongue in cheek.
Where's the drunk pilot trying to take off from the stations crashing into things as they go.
Where's the guard drones shouting exterminate as they chase you.
Where's the cargo mission to ship a bunch of cows to a settlement somewhere.
Again it might be me being Moron!!!!! and not noticing but it almost seems like the Dev's have been working so hard on updates for the game, they have forgotten to have fun.
When I used the docking computer, it players the classical music used in 2001 a space odyssey. That's kinda tongue in cheek.
But with all the missions, and things we can do, there at least for me,,,,,,,, well it all comes across as very surgical, again like they were so focused on getting it done, they didn’t stop to put an Easter egg or funny in.
When I picked up a rich tourist and they ask me to pick something up. The message is just, commander please pick up blaa blaa blaa, i wish to be comfortable. Or something like that. How about a really snide stuck up message. “Oh Commander, I demand the finest luxury velvet satin sheets from the furthest reaches of know space!!”,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Open Airlock!!!
When I pick up cargo it feels like number swapping. I don't see the ship jolt as the cargo get loaded into the ships, and the sound of the cargo being loaded,,,if that is the sound, isn’t conveying and convincing me it got loaded, at least any more. I haven't noticed a change in performance of the ship, again that could be me.
A little extra object animations around the ship in the stations or sound, would go so far.
When I come across an emissions detection while in warp. And it's a destroyed ship, all we get is maybe a container to pick up which at least has a purpose. And debris of the ship. I can't let's say, scan the debris, and find out what ship it was, what it was called of where it came from. Let the pilots family know he wont be back for Christmas.
Let's take the wedding broadcasts we sometimes see. "three cheers to the happy couple!",,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "what who's getting married? Which station or ship is that coming from. If I go and land. I don't see a wedding ship with the wedding decor on it.
There is doing things because it's fun and doing things because it accomplishes something. Almost everything in ED that accomplishes something after you've done it once becomes frustrating after a time. Not even satisfying atm.
ED is get a mission go there, press a button mission complete.
3.I kept using the word stagnant. What I meant by that is, well, partly the humour and also partly the surgical mechanics, and lifelessness of it all.
I think it's stagnant because it's very much go here role the dice. Do this roll the dice. It's get a mission numbers change, go to the destination numbers change.
If there are two factions that are at war. All I have is a business description.
Because I can't directly see other characters other than the still images of the stations commanders and business peeps I don't register a character, it's just a place holder. So I have no human interaction.
That’s what I meant by having a little movement there blinking of the eyes, very slight wobble. They go from a painting to a person.
I don't care which faction controls a station because there both just a bunch of text that goes on about ship numbers, economy growth. The company goals, rather than a company that employers people to work for them. With investors, people to answer to. Maybe there are tired, up against the wall or something.
I get the impression, peeps in the Alliance are more forward thinking, the empire are aristocrats, the federation come across as conservative and the independents are the pirate / crazy thinker types. However what about the people that live in the systems, how do they feel? And because power play is a picture of the person and a political statement, not a voice, broadcast or something I can't relate to it in real life. I don't get attached.
I can't go to the planets that have an atmosphere that might be inhabited. Talk or trade, mine, farm, hunt, build or walked about and admire the views, cultures, sounds. I'll never care anything about them.
All I have to go on are local transmissions, and a description goal the different groups are trying to accomplish. Not what started it, or talking to the guys on the front. People who will get effected by my actions.
The phrase, it's not to destination it's the journey. Well I'm only doing the journey for the outcome, credits. The journey is no longer satisfying. The universe feel unsatisfying.
When I've done exploring," which I've started again after the rant, as I needed to be alone for a while collecting my thoughts, finding myself, as you do sometimes, gonna Zen out with the dead aliens for a bit I think"
I find myself just warping and warping, then ill find a system with lot's planets. Now if those planets have already been scanned by someone, I don't bother checking them out. Because scanning planets has become a number gain task and I wont get the discovery bonus. I don't care if they look interesting because I've kinda seen it before and the really interesting planets can only be looked at from a far. And the actually game mechanic of scanning planets, is boring.
You get close enough and the ship starts scanning automatically.
I want to do a Spock for a moment. I want to look into a scanner and kinda do it myself, I want to see the data on the planet to slowly emerge. Maybe find a faint power reading.
Because it's a game mechanic that just happens and I have no control, the actual act of exploring becomes boring. Flying to the balls is always fun but you can only look at a ball with a texture and some shader's for so long before it's boring.
If I get jacked by some pirates, yes i do get that comms text, but as I said before, I hardly notice it. All I need is a voice to say over the comms "Oi! you drop the cargo or your dead". Same sort of comms chat we get when asking for docking.
My comments of Galnet and news, I want to expand and explain what I meant.
Galnet in it’s current format, when you access it from a stations menu. That news system should be for the local smaller news, I don’t mind text based stories in that format. Local football team won or lost. Local celebrity in scandal. Farmers union on strike. Gives me a taste of the local goings on.
But big news, both in game even maybe game development news like the updates, assignations attempts, government coup, Thargoid or Guardian news. I would like to be able to open a TV channel on either one of the panels in the cockpit like the upper left comms panel, or in the power play map windows. Real life “actors green screen” or even semi animated Hologram. But a real looking and sounding news service and experience. Doesn’t have to look great on that upper left panel or which ever panel you’d put in on. Have it on in the background. May be even ones for the different powers. Giving out there own version of the news lies and propaganda. Explaining current event with the superpowers, economics, populations growth and decline, current situation with colonia and community goals would remind us those are happening. Twice a month or something.
I actually have this happen with Radio Sidewinder, I’ll be playing away listening to the tunes. And then they do a news segment, and that's were I’m learning about community goals. Sometimes I’ll hear about one that interests me.
Doesn't spoil the immersion, it creates it! and those funny adverts, referring to humor in the game.
I know I shouldn't compare ED to SC or any other game, but guess what.
Ido!
The same way I compare COD to Battle field. Or the way I compared GTA to Saints Row. Or Forza Motorsport to Need for speed or any other racing game.
Because 1 the designers were making a game that replicated something they wanted to do in real life that we can't just simply do. They just took different approaches. (Racing game, don’t matter how you do that, car needs to feel and act like it does in real life)
And 2 Because I’ve always done with this games where I start dreaming of what could they do in the next game, difference is this game is being constantly worked on. So I’m hoping some of these ideas get into Elite, because I got a feeling This one will be around for a long time, some of them are already being asked for, some are things people have wanted for along time now. Because things like the planet landings, they are set in the space fiction.
Any space game these days will be compared to previous space games and some films (Inter Stella, and Elites warping effect around black holes, both seemed to come out at the same time. I never saw that before. Nice!) especially if it's not trying to be arcade.
And when it comes to space games they are the ones that are having the biggest growth and evolution right now at this time.
It's not just the graphics, but the universe and economies and lot's more.
GTA5 is basically the lighting and physics.We're already doing what we want to do. Bank robberies, chases shoot-outs. Massacres. Now we can go in a sub and really fly the aircraft.
Mass effect had the walking and FP shooting, but no space flying.
Evochron Merc, that had almost everything I wanted, but graphics were poor and like early ED there's was very little to do. But you can go down on planets in that.
Eve is a card game mixed with some spacey animations. No direct flying the ship, cockpit view. Static painted characters. More like work.
No Mans sky landing on planets and station, won’t getting the cons with that game.
Elite is the dominator at the moment. I’m invested in the series now, I want it to both succeed and set the bench mark.
The Elite Developers have already set a bench mark.
The whole milky way, as accurate as they can make with current tech limits and current data of what’s out there.
Doesn’t matter how big and detailed the ships, guns, planets and stations are in SC, I wont be able to fly to the edge of the other side of the galaxy. 400 billion + system.
But I at least know they are working on walking and maybe planet landings, I just wish I had a confirmation, possible date, maybe screenshot. Especially after seeing that podcast.
4. I'll try and explain the star trek. star wars comparisons.
Star trek, Babylon 5, Firefly to name a few are based in; if some what loosely based in this galaxy and universe. Earth, humans, politics.
Well Elite has the milky way, the sizes of planets are 1 to 1 and the economy and human populous seem kinda realistic what may happen in the future. The set up, with different governments, trade routes. bla bla, unknown aliens.
Faster than light joy riding, space trucking fun.
From what I've heard SC will be in a small area of the milky way. With lots of place and things to see. Now yes the physics, ships, stations and planets looked pretty much like what I would expect at this high end tech point.
But there was also something really sugar land fantasy about it.
Now I don't know what they planning with SC but I get the feeling they will spend more time on the ships, weapons, places, shops and eye candy and fan service, instead of a mystery, intrigue, exploration,aliens and Political development and consequence.
SC might be More about the things a player can do rather than a breathing universe.
Star wars is a fantasy universe, with actually not much to it. With star wars it's really just the jedi, the empire, the force, tatooine, and lightsabers. Once you get past that, there isn't much to the default star wars universe. Unless you go digging. And that's the impression I got from SC. At least at this stage.
It’s never going to have the depth of Elite, Elite’s only problem is some key things are missing. After that, the Dev’s can put any number of scenarios, ideas, intrigues, alien races. Once the foundations is down.
What I'm trying to convey is ED already has a breathing universe, In my opinion it has one major core mechanic missing. Literally the planet landings are especially important now we can land on moons. Far more important than the thargoid appearing at this time.
Because once that one core mechanic is implemented, that’s it!! ED have got something no one else will have.
And anything you add than is just icing on the cake!
And from what I've seen of the ED game engine, and the skill of the Dev's, that core feature is not only possible, but ED dev's might be able to get it working better than other.
Yes, a lot of these ideas are daydreams, they would be insanely difficult to design, create, implement, and test.
And a lot of the ideas are derived from film fantasy or older games, which can’t be put into a game, let alone this game.
ED's design and mechanics are what they are.
It’s constantly under development.
Which is probably why I burst out.
The first aliens we get, don’t seem friendly. The only other sigh of another alien life form, appear to have been gone for a long time.
I still can’t down to a planet with trees, forest, oceans, towns cities, mountains, cultures.
We got the holograms THANK YOU ED DEV's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a start, it shows you're working on it, which at least give's me hope, and that's all ya need sometimes.
There commanders who have already flown to the other side of the galaxy and back. "Never going to be able to do that in SC atm"
I've done a bit of exploring.
And how many of you have been out exploring, or driving about on a planet and in the back of you're mind hoping to see something, even if you have read the developers release notes, and you know you won't find anything, but still in the back of your mind, always hoping. and I mean more than a downed satellite, I mean and Easter egg, or things like the alien ruins.
And like I said, if I do find a little outpost or mining thing. I want to know who owns it, what's it mining for, how many people work in there. How often does it get supply runs. Right now it's a place holder with no in game action, other than scan and get warned off or shot at. Not even a voice saying " off!!!".
You know how in films you get protagonists. A character the audience can relate to. Those characters are sometimes used to help the audience get involved more emotionally with the story, the settings, the places. So they can put themselves in the situation.
Well there isn't anything in ED that I can relate to. No action or mechanic, no character, or places that, I can really care or relate to.
The closest I've come is that moment when you in glide mode coming down into a moon, and the ground comes up. And you get a gauge of the planets size.
I can relate to that, from both movie’s and flying in planes as a passenger, looking through the windows.
Suddenly seeing how uneven the topology is and high the mountains can go. Realizing just how tiny I am compared to this place, when just a moment ago it was a tiny dot in front of me.
I can't relate to the stations, any of them, because I haven't been on one, and because its' not in VR I can't gauge the size.
For some reason the station just seem like I'm looking through a fish lens. I'm not getting the impact of how big they are.
The people, economies, governments and pirates, the wars. the ever changing states the systems are in.
I just can't invest or relate to any of it. Because I haven’t found anything that helps me link with the Elite universe.
I’m not saying we need a character to do that. I mean the world doesn’t conveys itself to us the players that well.
That’s a very hard one to explain. Especially when I use the word protagonist in reference to a game with no characters.
I saw the shots of the new shader system, which looks fantastic, so sick of Baige.
But I'm worried the surgically nature of the galaxy wont change, and if it's does it will be far too far away in the future.
SETTLED
I'll use Babylon 5 to iterate my beef with the Thargoid appearance and what I mean by Settled.
It took 2 seasons before the shadow story line really took off. For 2 seasons they built up the world and only gave glimpses of the big enermy. We knew about them, that was kinda it.
The first season was getting us up to speed with the universe, the races, the key characters. Key History plot points.
The second season winded up with the earth government going crazy an becoming more anti alien, and turning into a dictatorship. and the alien races were ready for an all out galactic war.
By the time the shadows turned up in the third season, we had been giving enough time to become fully invested in the key characters the key plot points and the importance of key locations.
And that's why I think the Thargoid's should be opened up to us very slowly. And the Dev's should get the galaxy finished. Landing on atmosphere planets, maybe a couple of alien races that are about the same tech level as us. Fully Developed planets.
Power play, the governments again I don't really know who they are or what they really stand for. I was hoping some more development happened with that, So I was able to get invested in a party or side.
I heard there is a war between the empire and the federation, but I really haven't seen or heard enough in game for that to make any impact of the game.
That’s what I mean by SETTLED
Both the universe, governments, haven't settled.
I haven’t settled anywhere, I haven’t started a small settlement on a moon, chosen a side with any of the governments, mined, traded. Maybe even merged with another player.
Getting a sensible amount of credits coming my when like when allied to a power. And Paying some taxes, in case I loose stuff.
Join up with a power and have been stationed somewhere for a bit and learnt about the people there. Made connect and friends.
Or worked with a large player group and earned enough for there own mega corp, with ties into the governments and military. Yeah the Thargoids threaten that, that’s a big deal.
A little workshop where I can paint the ship or decorate it, maybe get a bobble head of the Spock on the dash, and a poster of Freddie mercury up on the wall or And A jukebox cranking out the tunes.
Yes I can do community goals to get the big station in colonia, and I think I heard about some new stations that players can own together.
But I’m a loner player. I want my own little things too.
Those Thargoids, turn up then and try and destroy my stuff that’s I’ve collected and worked for, or my mates who worked with me to get things.
Yeah the thargoids attack then,,,,,,,,,,I’ll be guns blazing all the way, because I will have attachment to that stuff and those thing I’ve built over time, and got working, that bring a whole new level to my game.
right now,,,,,,,,meh, got nothing, what ever.
….
If you read this far,,, wow, thank you, you crazy nutter!
Again sorry for the out burst, I didn’t mean any irritation to anyone, hoped you got a laugh from my little out burst.
Can’t give the ED Dev team enough credit for what they’ve made so far.
Here's Balok
Just look around you... did you notice that a lot of smaller team made atmospheric landing? Infinity Battlescape got a very nice transition and the dev team is made by 5 people.
Are you saying that at Frontier they can't do better than that? That would be patently absurd!
What is also patently absurd is the big discontinuity problem between the game lore and the game itself.
In the Elite Universe the humanity is still living on planets (billions of them) and if you check Galnet you will see a lot of spaceships traffic. We should be given at least a good reason why we can't land.
For sure we were not born inside a Sidewinder! [haha]
Infinity: Battlescape has been in development for a very long time indeed, and it has far less ambitious goals than Elite: Dangerous. It seems to me that it will complement Elite: Dangerous very nicely, doing what (in my opinion) CQC fails to do. But perhaps we'd better reserve judgement until it is released.
Different games have different strengths and weaknesses. The nice thing is, we're allowed to play more than one game.
dayrth
Volunteer Moderator
Getting a cutter won't change any of the things you don't like except the look of the cockpit, so you might be better off giving up on the grind and just playing the game. If you don't like the Anaconda (and I can't say I blame you), but still need an all rounder then get a Python. Much more fun to fly and can do anything.
Sorry I can't address the majority of your post but I just couldn't get past "Most of us saw the Star Citizen podcast. And I don’t know about the rest of you, But OMG!!!!!! Frontier, if you don’t pull you’re fingers out, this game is dead!!!!".
Sorry I can't address the majority of your post but I just couldn't get past "Most of us saw the Star Citizen podcast. And I don’t know about the rest of you, But OMG!!!!!! Frontier, if you don’t pull you’re fingers out, this game is dead!!!!".
What? Again? ED has been declared dead so many times I think it must already be at demi-lich levels of undeadness.
[video=youtube;MH7KYmGnj40]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7KYmGnj40[/video]
What does one do planetside in Infinity Battlescape?
I don't know, I'm not comparing the gameplay.
Would you dare to compare 5 young people at their first experience with a software house leaded by a professional developer with more then 30 years experience with a full team of experienced software designer?
I'm saying that technically speaking atmospheric transition is something that can be easily achieved in a space game. Especially for the Frontier Development Team. It won't be that easy as for other basic games because they have to deal with a procedural generation engine, but that's something that can be definitely done if they just want to do it. Why they don't want?... priorities maybe... but here there are several different opinions.
I don't care about Powerplay, Punishment or team-up with other user for fighting. So I've completely different priorities, like other people.
My gameplay didn't change in the last 2 years, I'm still doing the same things, so after 2 years of development focused on powerplay, dogfighting, and multiplayer I would like to see something more for exploration and trading/pax transportation.
Would you dare to compare 5 young people at their first experience with a software house leaded by a professional developer with more then 30 years experience with a full team of experienced software designer?
I'm saying that technically speaking atmospheric transition is something that can be easily achieved in a space game. Especially for the Frontier Development Team. It won't be that easy as for other basic games because they have to deal with a procedural generation engine, but that's something that can be definitely done if they just want to do it. Why they don't want?... priorities maybe... but here there are several different opinions.
I don't care about Powerplay, Punishment or team-up with other user for fighting. So I've completely different priorities, like other people.
My gameplay didn't change in the last 2 years, I'm still doing the same things, so after 2 years of development focused on powerplay, dogfighting, and multiplayer I would like to see something more for exploration and trading/pax transportation.
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I feel almost the same way except my biggest complaint is the game isn’t player driven at all I was expecting player driven economy, player driven factions, player driven goals, player driven bounty force and player driven crime. But what I got was a single player game with multiplayer plug in, no incentive to talk or play with anyone seeing another player is like seeing an npc.... ohh look another mindless ai doing whatever mundane task the rest are doing.... “forge your own path” “cutthroat galaxy” all these quotes brought me to this game none delivered... I have been playing for a year and a half now.... seriously considering quitting
This is first and foremost for me: "PTSD from all the grinding" (Much of which is just Make Work)
Was a big disappointment when the Need to Defend against Thargoids, requires taking More module space from my ship, to do it.
Guess the chance to add more Grind was just too tempting.
So now I am going to be less powerful to both Humans and Thargoids, because Weapons and Defense is now a Either OR Thing.
Is this the New Balance going forward ?
FDevs Should give us more module space or Weapons and Defense that are Equal to all threats.
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Do you expect FD to read that?
You could have unlocked the Cutter by the time you wrote that post.
The Anaconda is awesome. The Cutter is a drifty monstrosity of a trade ship.
From my skimming of your post, you seem to be saying "I want the Cutter now", "game is dead" and "SC is better".
Unlocking the Cutter requires the same effort as everyone else. Money is basically thrown at you now.
The game is also far from dead. It's thriving in fact.
And Star Citizen isn't any closer to release.
Money and military rank can be found in many places in abundance.
I chose to take the slow and steady route to my Corvette. And enjoyed most of it. But the last few % got me down, so I just did a shed load of data deliveries, and bam, done in a few hours. It was dull, but got the job done.
I now own a Corvette.
Which I don't like. Lol
I'm not even attempting to unlock the Cutter. Uurgghh. I couldn't deal with the Clipper, so I'll stick with my trusty Anaconda.
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
i dont know how fast u can unlock the cutter but i know for a fact that 2 factors are at play time and money, first to money is 200 mil which is not easy to get i have played ED for 1 year and im still on the FDL becasue i dont like trading, nor taxi driver. But i had to force myself to do it to be able to each 100 mil in a week... it was not fun leaving your ship flying for 20+ min from upsilon aquarii to ltt 3996. add to all that the grind of the ranking 2x if u want the vette too. and what suprises me is that u had to force yourself to do data missions to get it lol. u should undrestand better than anyone that the game needs major rework. and regarding SC is fine for now, if it doesnt come out Fdev has nothing to worry about but if the do then what, all thosecmdr that want to walk outside of the ship will get the game. they migth not abandon ED but the playime surely will go down. and if SC decides to go console... well i surely guarantee that i will play SC. base bulding ship repearing(from derelicts) combat, crew. capital ship for guilds and what not, [WALKING]. i love elite but i dont settle for mediocre. Specially since they promised early on the whole walking on your ship and and boarding too. i mean it is in their concept art book for god sake. but alas this doesnt seem to be the case they are working on jurasic bull and rollecoster tycoon 2017 which leaches dev power from the main game. i hope with the new set of updates on beyond we see major improvement overall.
Apparently you should apply for a job with Frontier because this is going completely against the public report from them on its difficulties for creating believable immersion.