Eddie Symons Q&A Elite Dangerous: Horizons Gamescom 2015 wrap up - your questions needed

[Edward Lewis]

Hi everyone,

Final day for the Gamescom stream tomorrow. Want to wrap it up nicely with a Horizons Q&A with producer Eddie Symons. We'll be looking through the questions to pick a few for the stream.

Obviously we can only answer what we're able to! So please understand that going in. Eddie wanted to know what you're most interested in, to see if he can focus on certain aspects. So let us know what you'd like to hear more about/what you'd like us to clear up.

Thanks guys! Thanks to anyone who watched and see you tomorrow at https://twitch.tv/elitedangerous

 

[GJ51]

Will the galaxy map ever be fixed to retain the last settings between sessions?

 

[Apos]

What is the vision behind the salvaging/crafting system and to what extent can we expect module variability to make a dynamic appearance in game. Also, is it planned to be introduced for weapons only or ship modules as well. Should explorers be hyped for hyper-charged FSDs which consume more fuel? Should traders expect some compact cargo hull which allow just a bit more space? Etc, etc.

 

[Mr_Jim]

Let him speak freely about his favourite thing about the expansion?
I love the guy, seems so excited about his work, it shines through, good stuff.

I would like to hear more about the mechanics of taking over a fortress, or fortification on a planet if possible (Surely one needs troops for that)?
OR
Will the MB5 mining machine make a comeback, aka a mining machine you leave for it too work and then come back to pick up when its done?

 

[Avetorian]

What kind of things might we expect from the crafting system? It was mentioned, but nothing much really said on it. It's a long shot but that's the feature that interests me the most. If nothing else, is looting and crafting a core feature or an expansion feature? Thanks.

 

[Commander Debic]

If you die while running around in your Buggy (Scarab) Volkswagen Beetle, But your ship is still happily parked either on planet or in space, are you rezzed in your ship or at the nearest station and have to go find your ship. Or is your ship automatically placed at the same station you rezzed at?

 

[Wishblend]

With the crafting / loot system, I don't need the details but would we be able to land on a planet and fix parts of the ship that can not currently be fixed.

For example:-

If you are flying in space and get a cracked windscreen or a blow out where the windscreen shatters, would you be able to land on a nearby planet and loot and craft a new windscreen?

 

[Commander Silex]

Are we likely to see landfallen generation ships on barren worlds or moons, or evidence of alien or AI cultures?

 

[SpyTec]

A few questions:

• How will you make the bases on planet surfaces feel alive and thriving? And how big will the bases be?
• What will happen with Wingmates who follow my wake when I enter a planet if they don't own Horizons?

 

[Jynessa Loraeyn]

Hi! Thanks for the streams! This is probably too many questions but eh

1. Does the teaser trailer use the game engine? Is it planned that what we'll see in game will look like it does in the teaser? It's beautiful.

2. Will the debug camera be usable from the SRV (Buggehcam )?

3. Will it be impossible to jump your buggeh on top of your ship just before it remote pilots up into space?

4. What will actually happen if you fly into the ground at high speed? If you aren't instantly destroyed, does the ship bounce, then does gravity act on the ship to make it slam back into the ground? Does varying planet gravity have an effect on the lethality of crashes?

5. Do you need to reach zero lateral velocity with your landing gear down to successfully 'land'? Are there any terrain requirements for landing? Can you land on a slope, end up sliding down a mountain and plunging over a cliff? Or does landing gear have spikes to 'hold' the ship once it's in a landed state?

6. Are there cave networks, and other areas beneath the surface of planets? How would they be accessed?

7. Crashed ships have been mentioned as possible finds. What would we be likely to do/find at a crash site?

8. Are there new things on the planet surfaces that explorers can scan and then return to sell the data on? Are they persistent, and have a first discovery tag? For instance, ancient ruins, archaeological sites.

 

[Ozric]

The twitch streams have been both entertaining and enlightening, so thanks a lot for them.

Will the Outposts be only in colonised space, or will we find abandoned ones outside of that area too?

Will there be a new scanner required to find out extra info about the planets/moons surfaces and resources, or will the current Detailed Surface Scanner give you extra info? If the latter will scans we have already taken, be updated?

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I far haven't seen mention of star ports being in first release of Horizons. How much later they are coming? Soon, Sooner, or Soonerish?

 

[Zalifer]

It was mentioned that ships take off if you travel too far from them in your SRV. I would like to know if we can launch our SRV, blast across the surface for two hours (or days ) and then have our ship come pick us up without having to return to it.

How vulnerable are ships that are left on the surface? Can other players damage them? Can they damage them? If they have taken off without a pilot, because you drove off in the SRV, are they still visible to other players, and as such, vulnerable.

Are the surface generation algorithms capable of producing caves? If so are they simple overhangs, are they complex cave systems. Could I park a small enough ship in one if I was careful? Could I explore them in an SRV.

Can you state any concrete ways in which planetary landings will interact with the mission system, or powerplay? Not that they will, but give an example of a mission/powerplay interaction.

 

[Alien]

Can we please have the Frontier Elite 2 intro remade in Elite Dangerous with Elite Dangerous ships, the Clipper (as it's the courier in all but name) and two Eagles, using the music by Dave Lowe when he records the Frontier Main Theme?

Us fans could do it, but we'd have to wait until we get our hands on Atmospheric landings. Frontier's Codery People could do it quicker and arguably better.

#RemakeFE2Intro

 

[Arbanax]

Would love to know if you are out in your Sacreb SRV, how you find your way back to your ship? Is it possible, in effect to get lost?

Thanks

Ab

 

[-zalamander-]

- How much can we customize the SRVs? Modules / weapons / paint jobs?
- Can we turn off the thrusters on the wheels of SRVs? Like GAOFF (Gravity Assist Off), so we can make biiiiig jumps on low gravity worlds ;-)
- How do we know which planets/moons we can land on other that trying and failing? Is there indicator in cockpit or do we just check from the system map if there is atmosphere or not?

 

[Viajero]

- Will we also be able to use the landing mechanics to land on normal asteroids? This would add an awesome angle to combat and chases in asteroid belts. Eddie mentioned earlier that landing will also be possible in small planetoids not necessarily round ones, and he also offered the example of the Rossetta mission pics.

- Will activity in the surface of planets affect the background simulation of the system they are in (i.e. trading, missions, reputation, minor faction states etc)?

- Is the intention that activity on the surfaces also affect Powerplay in some way?

- Will SRV's be ready for wheel controllers?

 

[TrumX]

Will you guys add a more complex/bigger "achievement" system? Maybe with rewards (like titles or skins) for doing other stuff than the usual? E. G. Kill 1000 Pirates (police skin) or mine 2000tons of gold (golddigger title)?

I think it would give people more things to do, more goals to set

 

[mossfoot]

Hi Ed!

So what I've seen and heard seems to be what might be called "bubble related" planetary content. Crashed ships, bases, and the like, and a combat element to go along with that. But what happens once we leave the Bubble?

There is a large group of Elite players that are all about exploration, and one thing the Exploration forums seem to agree on is they want more to do during exploration. What will there be for us to find/do on these moons once we're 1000 or 10,000 light years from the Bubble. I mean, aside from driving on the generated terrain, of course.

 

[ape808]

Thanks Ed.

I'll ask a few, hopefully up my chances to get one answered

• Will we be able to land on The Moon ( our Moon ) or any other bodies in the Solar system?
• It there some atmosphere threshold that determines which "non-atmospheric" bodies we can land on? How's that all decided.
• How fast do ships travel in orbital cruise?
• When will we find out what that screen between our legs is for? It's been a mystery for too long