Development Update 4 - September

[ubermick]

Space or combat game??? What happened to exploration? Is anything but shooting each other in the face off the table?

Hi Ian. The old dude again

The problem is that you have 100 people demanding combat-related things, 10 people demanding exploration-related things, and then there's Rubbernuke demanding powerplay-related things*. And of course fixing the stuff that's already there - there are already people moaning about the fact that Frontier is adding emotes to the game.

Deffo agree tho, the "blaze your own trail" stuff applies to ship-only at the moment, the on-foot stuff is basically "grab yer gun, its killin' time" with the occasional courier mission thrown in. The xeno-biology/exploration side of things is horribly underdeveloped.


*I'm only messin!

 

[CaptainPugwash]

For sure. If you want I can see if I can keep some mats for you instead of selling them when my inventory is full?

I appreciate the offer, no engineers unlocked as yet, so any stuff required for unlocks would be useful I guess.

 

[ubermick]

I appreciate the offer, no engineers unlocked as yet, so any stuff required for unlocks would be useful I guess.

Have a peek in here, Pugwash - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-odyssey-materials-exchange-thread.585279

Fair few of us have met up and helped out people starting on the path.

 

[Ian Skippy]

The problem is that you have 100 people demanding combat-related things, 10 people demanding exploration-related things, and then there's Rubbernuke demanding powerplay-related things*. And of course fixing the stuff that's already there - there are already people moaning about the fact that Frontier is adding emotes to the game.

Deffo agree tho, the "blaze your own trail" stuff applies to ship-only at the moment, the on-foot stuff is basically "grab yer gun, its killin' time" with the occasional courier mission thrown in. The xeno-biology/exploration side of things is horribly underdeveloped.


*I'm only messin!

Exobio is pretty impressive actually. You can really study it because it's all PG with no randomness like NMS. You can study one type, gather data on temp range, soil type, terrain type, bio types, proximity factors and perform statistical analysis on that to better predict where they are. Pretty impressive.

 

[ubermick]

Exobio is pretty impressive actually. You can really study it because it's all PG with no randomness like NMS. You can study one type, gather data on temp range, soil type, terrain type, bio types, proximity factors and perform statistical analysis on that to better predict where they are. Pretty impressive.

I stand... er, sit... corrected. To be honest, the only effort I've made has been to sample one type which I happened to notice when I was doing a wreckage-related mission!

 

[Fizzatron]

Sure, but my point is, an ingame map is better than hand drawing and the internet

My 15 year old son plays games and researching on the internet is par for the course these days. If you want an analogy, what you're trying to say is "I shouldn't have to play the game with a copy of C&VG/Crash/Zzap!64 open to know what to do", knowing full well that's exactly what we did for lots of games that were far more obtuse!

 

[ubermick]

Yep, I'm still keeping away from these missions unless they finally decide to do as you suggest.
However there seem to be parallels with the C&P system in ships: if you destroy a ship without ever being seen by the cops you still get notoriety, which doesn't make sense to me, given that the cops show up in their own good time.

They're doable without it, but you basically have to stick to not just anarchy systems, but targeted factions that are also anarchy. (I found out the hard way by accepting a massacre mission in an anarchy system, but since the settlement was a democratic faction, I walked out of there with a 20k bounty and notoriety).

I do agree that there shouldn't be a fine/bounty/notoriety unless your crime is witnessed/caught. (I suppose the counterargument is that its the 34th century, our ship logs show we were at the scene of the crime, or that everyone has a bodycam of some sort, etc.)

 

[taniwha-qf]

They're doable without it, but you basically have to stick to not just anarchy systems, but targeted factions that are also anarchy. (I found out the hard way by accepting a massacre mission in an anarchy system, but since the settlement was a democratic faction, I walked out of there with a 20k bounty and notoriety).

You do not have to be in an anarchy system, just the target is an anarchy faction. I've done plenty of such missions in non-anarchy systems with no bounties or notoriety.

 

[ubermick]

You do not have to be in an anarchy system, just the target is an anarchy faction. I've done plenty of such missions in non-anarchy systems with no bounties or notoriety.

Yep, you're 100% right. I meant that in anarchy systems there's more chance of finding them.

The side effect of the crime and punishment instant-fine/bounty is that anarchy factions are now getting their backsides handed to them on a constant basis and its messing with the BGS/powerplay. I think someone mentioned that since the launch of Odyssey, the amount of anarchy systems in the bubble has plummeted by two thirds, and quite a few anarchy factions have been driven into bust/famine as a result.

 

[taniwha-qf]

The side effect of the crime and punishment instant-fine/bounty is that anarchy factions are now getting their backsides handed to them on a constant basis and its messing with the BGS/powerplay. I think someone mentioned that since the launch of Odyssey, the amount of anarchy systems in the bubble has plummeted by two thirds, and quite a few anarchy factions have been driven into bust/famine as a result.

Yeah, I've noticed the anarchy faction in the system I hang out is on the brink. I've actually been bringing their settlement back online (after taking it down several times )

 

[ubermick]

Yeah, I've noticed the anarchy faction in the system I hang out is on the brink. I've actually been bringing their settlement back online (after taking it down several times )

Bwahahahaha. I mean, being nice only goes so far... everything has its limits!

 

[taniwha-qf]

I meant that I had taken their settlement down several times, went out on a trip to the black, got back, and there were missions to restore their settlement (instead of massacre it). I thought it worth trying to keep the faction alive.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Bwahahahaha. I mean, being nice only goes so far... everything has its limits!

If only Frontier had the nounce to make it that Interstellar Factors, Black Market and Ebreach could only be present in Anarchy controlled systems, nowhere else...

 

[Sublime]

Killing a conscious and armed NPC is less bad than killing unconscious NPCs. So to prevent the latter you cannot cause them to lose consciousness and have to murder them.

Logic, yo. :/

They should just make it so the NPC becomes invulnerable once they are stunned. I’d rather have that immersion break along with the ability to have non-lethal takedowns than not have them at all.

 

[CaptainPugwash]

They're doable without it, but you basically have to stick to not just anarchy systems, but targeted factions that are also anarchy. (I found out the hard way by accepting a massacre mission in an anarchy system, but since the settlement was a democratic faction, I walked out of there with a 20k bounty and notoriety).

I do agree that there shouldn't be a fine/bounty/notoriety unless your crime is witnessed/caught. (I suppose the counterargument is that its the 34th century, our ship logs show we were at the scene of the crime, or that everyone has a bodycam of some sort, etc.)

I think the lack of witness to a crime is just the easy way to do it tbh.
Regarding anarchies, let’s just say my cmdr has some ethical conflict there …

 

[SpartanBridge55]

What if it is better to bring that effort to the consoles and instead of releasing more content that is going to break, they better improve what they already have and once they add the promised content that never made it to the consoles?

Oh no! We better keep breaking the game more and make more mistakes.

you don't learn, right?

 

[Ian Skippy]

They should just make it so the NPC becomes invulnerable once they are stunned. I’d rather have that immersion break along with the ability to have non-lethal takedowns than not have them at all.

100% agree.

 

[Ian Skippy]

I appreciate the offer, no engineers unlocked as yet, so any stuff required for unlocks would be useful I guess.

Honestly mate, if you are strapped for time I'd recommend just forgetting the engineers exist at all. Just completely ignore them and their unlocks and go straight to the upgrading of your suit and weapons. What suit and weapons would you ideally like to use in most situations?

I stand... er, sit... corrected. To be honest, the only effort I've made has been to sample one type which I happened to notice when I was doing a wreckage-related mission!

It really is a shame so few people notice it. EDO is pretty much the only game I know where you can truly use the scientific method and modern statistical analysis in a meaningful way in the role of 'scientist'. Most games just have some dumb 'science mini-game' (shakes fist at the original alpha mini game) that a five-year old can solve. In EDO, my actual stat conferences I attended as a PhD student are useful if I wanted to. Its wild. Its glorious.

But instead nearly everyone just wants more mini-games. :/

 

[CaptainPugwash]

Honestly mate, if you are strapped for time I'd recommend just forgetting the engineers exist at all. Just completely ignore them and their unlocks and go straight to the upgrading of your suit and weapons. What suit and weapons would you ideally like to use in most situations?

Yeah, that's what I'm doing, starting with the easier missions, collecting stuff when the occasion arises. I'd like to do more stealth type gameplay, so as you said I would like the silent weapon mods, but I'm mostly still playing Horizons as my PC is barely above min specs for Odyssey, and is only playable in settlements if I resort to undersampling (which gives rise to horrible anti-aliasing). I just picked up another G3 weapon after searching 10-12 stations ..

 

[Ian Skippy]

Yeah, that's what I'm doing, starting with the easier missions, collecting stuff when the occasion arises. I'd like to do more stealth type gameplay, so as you said I would like the silent weapon mods, but I'm mostly still playing Horizons as my PC is barely above min specs for Odyssey, and is only playable in settlements if I resort to undersampling (which gives rise to horrible anti-aliasing). I just picked up another G3 weapon after searching 10-12 stations ..

Ah, in that case the Noise Supressor mod is by far the most important. You can avoid folks outside, inside not as easily. The easiest way is Hero Ferrari, which you should start out with as a contact. You only need to finish a bunch of CZs to unlock her. I pretty much have all the resources needed for a silencer, so if you have unlocked her let me know and we can schedule a meeting somewhere in the bubble next week.

Honestly, of all possible mods, the indoor silencer is the biggest game changer IMHO. It allows you to go sec0->sec1->sec2->sec3 without alerting anyone with minimal fuss. Personally I prefer the sidearm for indoor sneaky stuff, give it some thought the coming days.