Development Update 2 - July

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
Hydrino said:
+1
i feel you Rubbernuke. Of course this is my own take on it tho . . .
There are cool stellar forge updates that team could roll out continously.
There are good and needed bug-fixes to implement.
And then there are the MVP features and "disconnected" parts of the game that need to be updated and fleshed out.
Power Play is in that last category. Released as a meta-game MVP on top of the rest of the game.
I don't care a bit about the Open Only junk because that's garbage and won't happen due to physics and networking tech as it is.
But PP needs to be integrated to the BGS.
Minor Factions, player controlled, need to be able to clearly see their BGS manipulations taking hold and expanding their reach and integrated all the way up to the Powers losing ground and even getting wiped out. Everyone that takes a mission should be affecting PP as part of the BGS faction they are boosting and this needs as much visibility as the minor factions in system get.

Likewise some of the PP stuff can be migrated down to minor factions, like system influence views on the maps and ability of players to vote on direction of expansion, etc.

But... good luck. Not holding my breath.
Click to expand...
What annoys me is the most is FD don't even bring Powerplay up to current standards. Powerplay UI? It took FD two whole years to remove a dead, unused button. Still have to click like some zapped monkey to load allocations. CGs pay out billions, and Powerplay rewards...50 million (the most available) while materials have to be bought still. Bonuses- money of ammunition, a few percent extra on rares...some bonuses not working right still.....

sigh

FD held a meeting about Powerplay a few weeks ago- what was said? What does FD plan? Is it the same flawed stuff as six years ago? If FD want to update Powerplay in the future by jingo involve people so we can make the most of that.
 

thistle

T
The terrible textures are easier to see on the original:

mars.jpg


I don't know what they were thinking. (the martians, not fdev)
 

Darth Ender

D
Rubbernuke said:
What annoys me is the most is FD don't even bring Powerplay up to current standards. Powerplay UI? It took FD two whole years to remove a dead, unused button. Still have to click like some zapped monkey to load allocations. CGs pay out billions, and Powerplay rewards...50 million (the most available) while materials have to be bought still. Bonuses- money of ammunition, a few percent extra on rares...some bonuses not working right still.....

sigh

FD held a meeting about Powerplay a few weeks ago- what was said? What does FD plan? Is it the same flawed stuff as six years ago? If FD want to update Powerplay in the future by jingo involve people so we can make the most of that.
Click to expand...

Most of the poor power's representatives haven't had a new portrait taken in 6 years.

As a long time dedicated member of Archon Delain's kumo crew ...i demand that Fdev implement power collapse and I dare them to try and collapse my great and awesome power. Double dare.
 

Vardaugas

Vardaugas
The problem with canyons is that the biome that creates many canyons, the cracked plateaus, scale to the size of the planet but always have the same proportions. So they cannot generate narrow and tall canyons. If they would add more modifiers to that, it would go a long way in generating planets with valid racing courses, from how I see it. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 

Lighthawk

L
Arthur Tolmie said:
Greetings Commanders,

With the end of July closing in on us faster than a getaway Mamba with illegal cargo, we wanted to share our second monthly developer update with you now.

As mentioned in David Braben’s recent post, we have adjusted our planning to retain our development focus on the PC version of Odyssey before revisiting our plans for console. This change in planning will mean we are able to deliver more bug fixes, performance improvements, as well as some new features and content.

Issue Tracker

Similar to last month, we would like to update you on key issues as voted for by our community on the Issue Tracker. You can visit the Issue Tracker and vote for your top issues or make a report.

1. Lighting and Illumination in Odyssey
  • Changes in Update 6 will address lighting issues, however we’ll continue to monitor any feedback and make adjustments if necessary.
2. Degraded terrain textures compared to Horizons
  • Update 6 will bring significant improvements in this area, however we’ll keep the issue open for further feedback and make adjustments if necessary.
3. FPS performance in Odyssey
  • Further improvements and optimisations have been made which will be deployed in Update 6. Significant work is underway to improve this further.
4. Cargo Canisters get stuck in the Megaship
  • Fixed for release in Update 6.
5.Hyford's Cache missing Scannable Data Point
  • Fixed – awaiting deployment (Update 6 / maintenance).
6. Retrieval from crash site mission POIs no longer appear
  • Fixed – awaiting deployment (Update 6 / maintenance).
7. Odyssey sticks at “Loading Game” when launch
  • Fixed for release in Update 6.

Upcoming Updates and Content

As promised, we also wanted to share with you work in progress content and improvements which will arrive in future updates.

While bug fixes and performance improvements remain a priority and activities such as narrative, events, and community goals will continue. However, our new approach allows us to add further content and features.

This month, we would like to share some of the content currently in development. Please note these are at varying stages of progress, and other content is also being considered. Please also note they are not final and are subject to change. We will keep you updated with news and details as they progress and we expect the content to release over the coming few updates.

Planned for later this week (Update 6)

Planetary Colour Improvements

Planetary bodies will see a number of improvements. Explorers will find new planetary colouration which will increase vibrancy and variety. These improvements will still be grounded with real science, but will offer a much richer experience for those looking to forge their own path through the black. Here are a few examples:

View attachment 252451View attachment 252452

There will also be further variation with the addition of earthy, gritty, and dirty ice worlds. These new textures will add even more variety. Here we can see a frozen CO2 and a tholin rich ice planet.

View attachment 252453View attachment 252454

Planetary Surface Improvements
Planet surfaces will also be getting an uplift with the following:

Improved surface texture detail, improved Ice materials, increased volcanism, improved lighting and the integration of new AMD technology FSR (which works on all GPUs) will bring a significant improvement to planetary surfaces visuals and allow for some improved performance.

View attachment 252455View attachment 252456

Camera Suite
Nothing would accompany all of these visual upgrades better than improvements to our camera suite. On the surface, we’ve reduced blackout intersections in the vast majority of scenarios. However, under the hood, we have actually implemented a whole new collision detection system which will allow you to move the camera freely around a settlement or social space and avoid bumping into those problem blackout spots.

Rocket Troops at Military Installations
AI rocket troops will be added to military bases providing a greater challenge for Commanders approaching in SRVs.

Please note these features will be accompanied by a vast number of other improvements, tweaks and fixes which will be detailed in a dedicated forum post ahead of release.​

Future Updates

Here are other features currently in development, which are planned for future updates. As we get closer to their release, we will announce which of these will be included in each update with further details:

Four Player Multicrew
Four Commanders will be able to board ships together for the first time, with a number of ships set to be equipped with a fourth cockpit seat, including several Commander favourites.

New Odyssey Engineers in Colonia
This is a much requested community feature and we’re pleased to oblige. We’ll be revealing more detail around these engineers soon.

Air Defence Turrets in Conflict Zones
We recognise that further balancing is required between on foot commanders and ships entering Conflict Zones. As such, further defence turrets will be added to Conflict Zones with associated on foot gameplay.

Increased Stored Module Capacity and Bookmark Numbers
These are long requested community features which will arrive in the near future.

Mission Feature Extensions
We will be expanding mission features for Odyssey with the aim to increase mission diversity and also create stronger links between the in-cockpit and on foot game.

Apex Redirect
This will allow passengers to redirect their Apex shuttle mid-flight, to return to the port of departure, or divert their Apex shuttle to another location, fuel permitting.

As mentioned, this list is not exhaustive and we will be sharing more details on the content mentioned above and future, unannounced content in further monthly development updates and across our other channels.

Thank you as always for your continued feedback and support.

-Arf
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Glad to hear about the four player multicrew! I look forward to that one! On a side note, any chance I could ever buy my own Majestic? Pretty please!!!!! That large ship is so pretty! lol (no I'm not being serious but if it was an option I'd take it). Thank you all for your continued work on Elite. The pictures look fantastic!
 
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thistle

T
For the avoidance of doubt, I think the new planets look great, the colour changes. I still have the opinion that, for me at least, the planets and therefore the galaxy would need to be re-generated to fix the topography problems, and I'd like to see the atmospheres addressed. The topography and the atmosphere from re-alpha dev diary images would mean bacon sandwiches for everyone.
 

baron_V_S

B
this is a fantastic update. i would definitely echo other comments about the need to regenerate planet topography again - for me, the planets look beautiful, they just need more randomised mountain heights rather than more bland looking blobs of tiny mountain ranges.

we used to have some real giant mountains in horizons, would be great to bring them back. please address Frontier, and great work so far.
 

Mr T

Mr T
Rubbernuke said:
CGs pay out billions, and Powerplay rewards...50 million (the most available)
Click to expand...
I thought they would have changed this when they did all that reballancing, like increasing the bounties. Surely, you'd think PP credit rewards would be just as simple to adjust...
 

Darth Ender

D
Mr T said:
I thought they would have changed this when they did all that reballancing, like increasing the bounties. Surely, you'd think PP credit rewards would be just as simple to adjust...
Click to expand...

i always thought PP was balanced fairly ok in terms of payouts and bonuses (when they worked). It's the rest of the game that has been balanced more and more unfairly. To compensate for boring gameplay, fdev has just boosted payouts and this inflation has existed without any change in the cost of things.

In the same way they have dealt with boring travel by boosting jump distances.

Rather than improve the gameplay and create means of skill based gameplay that pays more and bypasses the time sinks, or by making travel have a more difficult or skill based aspect that allows you to circumvent the base level boring (but safe/reliable) means... fdev instead relies on inflating rewards or introducing grind options to circumvent their own self imposed time sinks. And when they can't inflate a reward directly, they leave open money making exploits so that most players who care, can just eliminate credits altogether from being a balance mechanic.
 
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