News Development Update - 8th Jan

[Michael Brookes]

Had the same line for a while now, is it to much to ask even a rough eta on when we might finally get someone to look at it, instead of perhaps small scale exploits. This has a lot of ppl ( here and other groups across lots of solar systems) trying to do things with the open sandbox and a lot are rapidly loosing interest, so id rate this a much higher importance affecting well thousands of players at best and it would generate a lot of goodwill if answers were at least forthcoming a little bit.

It's already a priority issue for us to fix. I don't know whether we have all the information we need to diagnose. The chances are that there's a number of smaller issues combining so we just need to work though them. Until I have all the facts its difficult to know when it will be fixed as we don't know what needs fixing yet.

Michael

 

[dannysquid]

We're not short of ideas, we just need to balance and prioritise the various work streams.

Michael

Good to know. I think mining is one of the areas that feels most obviously bare bones at the moment. Even adding the ability to target the asteroids so you can make a note of which ones you've already mined would go some way to improving it. But I suppose if you're going to make improvements you might as well do it properly. (oh and comets... hint, hint!)

 

[Tinman]

We're not short of ideas, we just need to balance and prioritise the various work streams.

Michael

Oh, I understand that fully (the things I mentioned are straight from the DDA after all), but I'm just thinking that taking something like the "limpet" and reusing/renaming it for the purpose of picking up chunks of asteroids you have selected might be reasonably straightforward to implement. Maybe that module also needs a certain size for the internal slot in the ships so that a bigger ship is required to install it.

 

[orfeboy]

Missions is due for a major update which I'll go into more detail in a dev update soon.

Michael

Michael would it help you if we were to post up mission results that look wrong for your review? This would be easy for me to organise since I have a large number of players doing the same set of missions (in one system). If we were to create a thread where we were to post dodgy results and the history of the mission, then you guys could look through them at your leisure and make adjustments as you see fit?

 

[ATrifleMiffed]

No substantive changes beyond bug fixes as they arise are immediately planned. We'll need to see how it works in conjunction with planetary surfaces in the longer term.

Michael

Please, please reconsider this. Mining is an absolute mess of RNG nonsense at the moment, and by far the dullest and least lucrative profession in the game (which is a shame). Please consider implementing the asteroid scanners and collector drones that the community has been requesting. This should be absolutely trivial to improve by orders of magnitude, yet we have seen no improvements to mining since its initial appearance in beta 3. Like many other things in E: D, it feels like a clumsy placeholder.

On an unrelated topic, have there been any plans to improve NPC generation so systems don`t feel empty? Proper, working NPC persistence? Overhaul of USS mechanic so it isn`t as infuriatingly random and counter-intuitive?

 

[Zarunoi]

There are no plans for a Linux version at the moment. We are actively considering different platforms though.

MIchael

What about making the Windows version work on Wine ?

 

[Cruel Coppinger]

can someone show Michael Brooks how the multi quote button works

 

[Viajero]

Missions is due for a major update which I'll go into more detail in a dev update soon.

Michael

Stoked about this one, thanks!

Hopefully that means a chance for more "advanced" kind of missions including escorting NPC´s as DB mentioned several times with the "El Presidente" example etc. If other players could also sign up on the opposite side of those missions (in the example, to attack "El Presidente") then that d be grand. Hopefully limited to a Wing (as in the upcoming mechanics) size in each side or so.

These kind of small scale co-op or PvP missions could probably better motivate lots of players as a much more personal and meaningful way to affect or manipulate local factions influence and standing etc.

 

[dannysquid]

Stoked about this one, thanks!

Hopefully that means a chance for more "advanced" kind of missions including escorting NPC´s

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some of the persistent NPCs DDF proposal gets implemented. Think it would go a long way to making the game feel more alive.

 

[Jerakeen]

Michael,

are there plans to do something about the private session bug where session members get put in different servers so can't see each other? I've found the only way to deal with this is if you both go to open space and find each other then go back into the private session.
It does rather defeat the object of havibng private sessions if you can't play together.
Incidentally this only seems to have become a problem after 1.04
I have raised a ticket for it but it'd be nice to know how visible it is on the support radar.

 

[Viajero]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some of the persistent NPCs DDF proposal gets implemented. Think it would go a long way to making the game feel more alive.

You mean this?:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7494

 

[Ekar]

The continuing development of Elite: D, is my most 'anticipated' title of 2015. Really looking forward to seeing how things go from here.
Great job on a great game so far,

 

[NetSlayer]

can someone show Michael Brooks how the multi quote button works

This is the community's highest priority, it will be announced in a community thread soon.

NetSlayer

I couldn't resist...

 

[Hydrino]

News on News

Hi Michael,

Really stoked to read the first development update!

Can you comment if Newsfeeds are on the list to enhance?

I think this is something that would make the game seem more alive and populated and interest players. A social aspect of the game to read about player activity whenever I log in to play or check the phone app.

There are so many things that could be reported from local events as well as galaxy-wide. The data could even be made into an annual or semi-annual PDF "newspaper", detailing goings-on in regions of space and calling out player commanders with exploits of note.

I know you are not short of ideas, and this was touched on in the DDF iirc, but I think it might be an under-rated feature. And one that doesn't require any graphics code and will work with the pieces you already have in place for newsfeeds and the background simulation.

Cheers!

 

[Michael Brookes]

Hi Michael,

Really stoked to read the first development update!

Can you comment if Newsfeeds are on the list to enhance?

I think this is something that would make the game seem more alive and populated and interest players. A social aspect of the game to read about player activity whenever I log in to play or check the phone app.

There are so many things that could be reported from local events as well as galaxy-wide. The data could even be made into an annual or semi-annual PDF "newspaper", detailing goings-on in regions of space and calling out player commanders with exploits of note.

I know you are not short of ideas, and this was touched on in the DDF iirc, but I think it might be an under-rated feature. And one that doesn't require any graphics code and will work with the pieces you already have in place for newsfeeds and the background simulation.

Cheers!

I'd like to see more player based events in the newsfeed.

Michael

 

[LeoKesler]

Do you know what I want to see in the game ? Ranking of a player affecting the simulation.

Example: If a player have a higher rank of trading, he will get benefits, like better buy/sell prices.
If a player have a "allied" stats with a system/station, he will get some benefits like not be scanned, always have a place to dock, the "cops" will arrive soon if the allied player is attacked by pirates. Better prices in fuel/munition....
But if a player dont have any ranking, he will dont get any benefits and in some systems, maybe some problems (like a higher prices, higher fines, limited stock).

If a player have a higher rank of Exploration, he will sell your exploration data for higher prices.

Excuse me my bad english.

 

[Artie]

I'd like to see more player based events in the newsfeed.

Michael

Unfortunately, it is a sad fact that in most (MMO) games are players able to arrange just few "major events" and majority of players simply wants to be entertained by the game itself and have no interest to make any event on their own (due lack of creativity, time, ideas, whatever). So it will be nice to see in station Newsfeed at least some local news like that there is increased pirate activity on some place in adjacent system, that other station in the same system is facing some epidemic and medicines are needed and many similar. It's a little thing, but helps a lot to create a feel of living galaxy and helps players to make their own little stories.

 

[Michael Brookes]

Unfortunately, it is a sad fact that in most (MMO) games are players able to arrange just few "major events" and majority of players simply wants to be entertained by the game itself and have no interest to make any event on their own (due lack of creativity, time, ideas, whatever). So it will be nice to see in station Newsfeed at least some local news like that there is increased pirate activity on some place in adjacent system, that other station in the same system is facing some epidemic and medicines are needed and many similar. It's a little thing, but helps a lot to create a feel of living galaxy and helps players to make their own little stories.

I believe some of that exists, but only within the system it happens. There's no concept of local news for nearby systems which would be a good addition.

Michael

 

[Straha Yeagar]

Do you know what I want to see in the game ? Ranking of a player affecting the simulation.

Example: If a player have a higher rank of trading, he will get benefits, like better buy/sell prices.
If a player have a "allied" stats with a system/station, he will get some benefits like not be scanned, always have a place to dock, the "cops" will arrive soon if the allied player is attacked by pirates. Better prices in fuel/munition....
But if a player dont have any ranking, he will dont get any benefits and in some systems, maybe some problems (like a higher prices, higher fines, limited stock).

If a player have a higher rank of Exploration, he will sell your exploration data for higher prices.

Excuse me my bad english.

Absolutely disagree with this idea. One of the things I like the most about ED is that there is no "levelling up" like most other games, no perks, no achievements...just the player against the universe.

 

[Derva2009]

i still wonder if overthrowing a system works, like i see in Lugh, that the system faction is still federation faction even though crimson got like 65percent influence in that system.