News Development Update - 8th Jan

[Inkorp]

Can you please expand a little further on paid expansions?

 

[Cosmo]

Nice, I'm looking forward to more details about the planned updates and the first expansion.

 

[ffr]

the native Mac version of the game together and as expected this should enter beta in about three months time

Some mistake Michael?? The last official statement said the Mac final release was due in what is now two months time.

 

[TheDeathsHead]

I hate to say it but everytime I read "working on paid expansion" I get a little sick. The game feels very bland right now and I sure don't want to have to pay more to livin it up.

I do appreciate the update though.

 

[Witcherman]

Awesome new year news!

As much as I've enjoyed exploring the galaxy on my own, I'm definitely looking forward to the wings feature so I can group up with my friends and have some fun working together

 

[Radia]

Awesome new year news!

As much as I've enjoyed exploring the galaxy on my own, I'm definitely looking forward to the wings feature so I can group up with my friends and have some fun working together

Same here can't come soon enough.

 

[flint read]

thank you Michael I look forward to your posts even more than the news letters

 

[Nazz]

I was extremely excited when Elite Dangerous was put up on Kickstarter and was quick to offer my patronage. My hope was that the dev's post today might be something that actually resembled a roadmap or at least talked about future features.


For context I believe the game and the universe are beautiful and the team should be commended for their work. At the same time I find myself severely disappointed at the lack of some very basic game functionality. The inability to create multiple commanders or even do something as simple as save and load in solo mode just makes me feel sad and frustrated. These are table stakes features and without them I find myself dreading the thought of playing rather than looking forward to it. I want to enjoy the game and not be worried about "well crap I guess I crashed instead of landing". I want to be able to go "cool just got my awesome new ship, I wonder how long I can hold off the starbase defenders" with the safety net of being able to load back to an old game. I wan't to be able to explore different types of play without having to delete all of the work I've previously done.


The devs have done a great job at creating a wonderful simulation but it is not a game. I wish that the dev's post might have offer some hope or solace but it has not. I do not regret helping to fund Elite Dangerous but I am very disappointed that I can't enjoy it.


To those of you who are loving it I hope you continue to do so.

 

[HenimeX]

hell yaa

 

[InconspicuousPotato]

Cheers Michael keep up the good work

 

[Zephyriel]

Thanks Michael, I think this kind of post is exactly what the community has been asking for for a while now. I hope from now on we'll get regular updates on your plans, even if like you said you can't reveal everything ; every bit of info regarding future content gives us something to look forward to and keeps us excited about the game

 

[Patcher]

Wow that's a great new after holiday. Thx Frontier~
It's a long wait since the game release, but anyway we can have more expectation in the future, lol~~

 

[Michael Brookes]

Superb! Thanks for this, and I hope it will help ease some of the concerns we've seen on the forums.

Out of interest, may I ask if you have any idea yet how the expansion betas will work? Will there be a separate galaxy for testing, or do you expect the new features to play nicely alongside non-testers?

The details for expansion testing haven't been finalised yet as they're a bit further down the line.

Michael

 

[Greyheart]

Thanks, good to hear about your plans including beta testing! Assuming we'll have access to a test environment for the beta testing.

^^

 

[DarthLuca]

Thanks Michael,
Look forward to a continually improving game over the next few months.
Particularly looking forward to carrying my first passengers and beta testing planetary landings.
Happy 2015 to/for all!

 

[Michael Brookes]

Fantastic news!

Just to further clarify, by beta access, you mean people with BOTH beta access AND prepaid expansion passes, right? Otherwise you might end up in the odd situation of people having beta access and then their access getting revoked upon final release if they don't buy the expansion.

The beta access refers to testing the updates. Expansions are a separate beast and we'll provide more details on those as we progress.

Michael

 

[Jason S]

Nice to know expansions will happen.
Nice to know Mac version will happen.
Nice to know significant content additions and features will happen.

I am happy for the confirmation post from Michael, as puts some worries to rest.

 

[Michael Brookes]

Really the main news here is that the Mac client will be going into beta testing in about 3 months, the rest of it while nice to have posted something doesn't really have anything new. We knew about the wings update, but WHEN should we expect to see it?

As soon as dates are firmed up I'll share them. The other big news was expanding the team - we're serious about pushing Elite: Dangerous ever onward. That's pretty big news for me as the Producer!

Michael

 

[DarthLuca]

The details for expansion testing haven't been finalised yet as they're a bit further down the line.

Michael

I would have to hope that we would get a separate line on the launcher that would say 'ELITEANGEROUS Beta: n.nn.' that would launch a separate version of the game. But as you imply it will depend on what you find easiest and best to implement.

 

[Michael Brookes]

Some mistake Michael?? The last official statement said the Mac final release was due in what is now two months time.

No mistake - it will be in beta in around 3 months.

Michael