Details in Elite Dangerous

[John Rhys]

So i'm just doing my first long range Trip in my Python (16.000 LY) and i'm noticing a lot of little things, that make Elite for me one of the most amazing Games i've ever come across. I'm a huge Fan of Simulations, my Steam Library contains things like Beam.NG Drive, Assetto Corsa, FSX, Automation and other Games, that are as realistic as possible for the Dev-Studio.

Is there a complete List for what Details Elite has? If not - let's start one:

Most obvious one: Sounds in the Cockpit become very mute when you blow your canopy (I've read the explanation of one Commander in here - Brilliant stuff and i love it how FD has put that in the Game)

Gravity effects - if you have turned off "Reduce Camera Shake" in the Settings, the ships come alive and all feel extremely different. The Python shudders slowly in the gravity of a small Star, while the Shudder becomes more when aproaching a planet with High Gravity. An ASP also shudders, but not nearly as much. Boosting an Eagle let's you feel how fast that thing really is

Neutron Stars - you can see the magnetic field of the star, where there is a wildly disturbed plasma cloud around it. Depending on the Pulsewidth, you can even see that some of those plasma streams get ripped in to the whirl.

Flying through a Solar Flare, really kicks your heat levels into gear.

Are there more of those little things? I know that the Anaconda has a "one of a kind" Damage Model - at least my Python @ 5% Hull doesn't even remotely show the kind of Damage an Anaconda has at 50% Hull. And i remember, the ASP also doesn't have one, also the T6 and the DBS/DBX...

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Hmm... Little things that I like (not mentioning the many "other" Little things that work in exactly the opposite way) :

- Over-G our CMDR (Blackout/Redout) : pull/push an agile Ship with maximum deflection controls or maneuver aggressively during Glide (go FA off during Glide Phase to maximize effect)

- while over a Moderate- or better High-G Planet : Yaw the Ship left/right and note the aching sound of the Ship's superstructure

Audio Highlights (recommended to mute the in-game Music or at least adjust its volume down) :
- while pointing at a Station and nearby (in normal space), let Ship stop and remain idle for 15+ seconds (crank up the Volume) and listen to the Background SFX/Comms chatter

- while sitting idle in Deep Space (normal space), give Ship a minimal yaw/pitch FA off and let the nose slowly pan i.e. through various Parts of the Galaxy (crank Volume WAY up) and wait ~15sec
(Caution : avoid triggering any Ship sounds/Panels opening while the Volume is still way up )

- while in normal space and idle, point Ship at various Planets or a Black Hole/Neutron etc. and wait 15sec (again, Volume way up)

- do the same with a NAV Beacon at very close Range (almost kiss it with the Ship)

- do the same in the System Map and focus view on different Planet types

- do the same in the Galaxy Map

- circle various Outpost types and get very close to different components of them & listen to them

Audio really is one of the highlights of the entire Game. Nothing else in it seems to come even close.
The idle SFX that sets in after some ~15sec doing nothing except listening is absolutely superb (just sometimes needs some drastic volume adjustments to really shine).

 

[Gunnet]

Almost everything to do with the sound design. But for another specific example:

You can tell how close you are to overspeed in a gravity well and set your throttle accordingly just by listening to the way the sound your FSD makes is changing.

 

[John Rhys]

[wacky] Of course...sound i totally "forgot" to mention...that creaking and aching of the superstructure is absolutely awesome...i always have to think about that one ST:V Episode (Year of Hell, where Voyager is torn apart for over a year) and that second to last BSG Episode, where they make that last Jump and break her Superstructure...

I just noticed the different sound of the FSD in a gravity well...pretty amazing stuff.

 

[Moon Siren]

The year of hell is the best Voyager episode by far, but yeah I love the sound of the superstructure creaking under strain.

I also like the different voices station traffic controllers have, rather than fobbing us off with the same one for all of them.

 

[Moon Siren]

Try 300k and interdiction attempts for good measure. Every time this happens I die a little inside.

 

[DNA-Decay]

Python air conditioning set to 17%

look over your left shoulder.

- - - Updated - - -

I also like the different voices station traffic controllers have, rather than fobbing us off with the same one for all of them.

And they vary depending on who they are allied to.
There is nothing better than saying goodbye to that annoying Fed American bloke and being welcomed by Melanie the Alliance Traffic Controller from south London.

I also love the way the decals change when you take a big Orbis or something.

 

[CMDR MRMAURICE]

Sitting idle on a planet with ingame music off, some planets make some weird noises

 

[JesusRocks1988]

I just love the detail in the difference between ship thrusters - as annoying as it was to be killed by the difference, it's fantastic to see especially on a high-G planet, your rear thrusters are much stronger than any of the others, and your lateral thrusters cannot keep you up. Roll your ship to like 45 degrees and you'll drop like a stone, likewise if you turn your ship upside-down.

 

[Juniper]

The dark adaption as you move away from a star into empty space, and the stars, nebulae etc come gradually into view based on their real life luminosity.

As someone who is (sporadically) heavily into backyard astronomy, this subtle yet beautiful effect really floats my boat. I never tire of it.

 

[DNA-Decay]

When the size of the craters is kinda medium in relation to the curve of the horizon, and you get that "uh-oh this planet is HEAVY" gut feeling. And then the kinda wallowing you get flying around on a high G planet.


Thinking back on the little signals you ignored when you are looking at a rebuy screen.
"There was a red triangle in the HUD and I did hear "Scan detected"

 

[2plex]

Yeah E: D is so wonderful in detail.
When you blow up and respawn back at the starting point without time delay, everybody just acts as if nothing had ever happened.
And while you probably have been securing black boxes by the score in your career, your own black box never gets recovered.
Hell, you don't even remember that you've blown up and where, otherwise you'd probably fly back there and try to recover the old black box yourself.

But that would be gameplay and Frontier is very keen on avoiding that at all costs.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Was seeing my first geysers yesterday as part of a passenger sight-seeing mission and I quite liked that a field of a number of them had a low lying mist hanging over them, which was obviously missing when there were only a couple.

 

[JesusRocks1988]

One of the biggest "small details" that I absolutely love, and that probably not a lot of people get to see is that some bodies have seasonal atmospheres and coverings of fog/dust, and even fewer people will see the fog dissipate. I went to a moon of a moon of a gas giant out in the Formidine Rift a while back, and when the parent moon eclipsed the star, the child moon would get covered in really really thick fog. Then when the star came out from behind the parent moon, the fog would very quickly dissipate.

On approach I thought something was wrong with the rendering of the moon:

I quickly realised it was really thick fog:

So I flew around for about 20 minutes in almost zero visibility:

Then the sun came out and the fog vanished:

 

[Suteksio]

Landing on a planet, turning off all modules besides life support and watch the canopy slowly freeze around the frame.

And what other said about the audio. Anything related to audio is breathtaking in this game.

 

[CMDR Pugwash]

The representation of the galaxy is incredible.

After an evening of exploring I like to land on a planet and look up at the stars. The huge scale of it, the wonder, the beauty. I carry that thought to bed with me.

 

[XW_Ziggy]

+1 for audio.

Large aspects of the game feel buggy, incomplete and unfinished but the sound effects in this game are top notch and tickle me in ways other games don't.

I'd love to hear shells slamming into your hull armour once your shields are out, for example - but even with some effects notably missing, I really love the ones that are already in the game.

 

[F4ANTOM]

I like the unrealistic-yet-cool fact that you can listen to techno music at some of the pirate outposts while sitting above the glass ceiling. Another one has a used-space ship showroom, again, with a glass ceiling, so you can see Eagles, Vipers, etc for sale. Just need some matching holo-ads "Black-Hole Bart's used ship Emporium.. , the 3304s are here, so the 3303s MUST GO!!"

 

[Some1else]

The slight, but perceivable shudder of your ship when the landing gear finishes deploying or retracting.

The way Chaff looks when your backing up in a fire fight.

The dust that blows up when the hanger floor drops to enter.

The incredible, unsurpassed, diverse, unique, overwhelming, unimaginable, stupendous, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious color of BEIGE used for HMC, and MR planets.

LLaP

S1E

 

[Matt L. Icious]

Python air conditioning set to 17%

look over your left shoulder.

Cobra 3 seat, hmmm, cooling I guess. Or hope, with my scoping style.
Between the seats, slightly down, configured for one comfy pilot. Will the 2nd seat be enabled if multicrew brings in another crew member?

IIRC there's the manual in a left side pouch in the Sidy.