Newcomer / Intro First impressions hmmm

[Mudbath]

Hello all
i bought this game the day after release, I don't think a game has ever left me feeling quite mad in the first hour of play. Like other people have mentioned on here already...The tutorials in game are seriously lacking. Piloting the ship is not the issue as that just takes a bit of practice, but trying to get on with everything else is just an endless chore of web searches and youtube videos just to play the basic's.

For example i start in station in my ship, after a bit of time trying to work out what to actually do in the unintuitive UI, i finally find the bulletin board..after a web search,cool heres where i can find missions..in....the...bulletin...board right ok no way you could just call it the i dunno maybe the "mission board" Theres only 2 i could actually do 1's a bounty hunting mission and 1 is a delivery..so i opt for the delivery mission best to start easy i think. So no cargo needed in the ship as i'm just the messenger.... i think....hmm not sure it does say i need to take some documents but also says no cargo space needed. Hmmm i look around for the documents but don't have a clue where to look,so i spend what seems like ages opening up the station services then going back to cockpit flitting from 1 panel to the next then opening up the station services again so on and so forth. But i seem to have exhausted all the places to look for them so i concede and check out the web (again) for some pointers,but no luck there so i take it i just need to arrive at the station perhaps ...maybe... i don't know, i'll soon find out.That was a 30 minute mess around in itself ...so i set the destination from inside the station,just by typing the system name in the search tab on the galaxy map,nice and easy. Right so time to undock and leave the station with an air of i dunno uncertainess!! anyway I get out into space, Right errr..... now what do i do never got shown how to use the warp drive....oh well i'll start again to try and fathom out what i gotta do.....how hard can it be, align the ship and hit "w" maybe? er no....ok errr hhmmm not sure i don't want to ALT TAB out again and look it up on the net... why the hell should i have to, this is just the basics of the game! i've already been there once looking at youtube vids just to get this far ....Right.... Err ....i'll just keep pressing buttons something is bound to happen..... ahhh ok 1 of them worked not sure which 1 did it was either HJK or L. Right she's telling me to throttle up ok..i can do that no problem ...and before i know it i'm in warp then a few seconds later out of warp...then very shortly after i crash straight into the sun,alarms going off smoke and sparks in the cockpit...WOW that was unexpected...now all that's over with i really need to get to the station i wanna finish my first mission, and my ship already needs repairs!!

so i sit there looking around for the station in space...nope cant see anything Hmmm... i'll look on the system map that makes sense, right it would help if i could remember the station name! Right i'll just look for the mission details in 1 of the panels in the cockpit that wil be the answer ...now where do i find that Hmmmm gotta be here somewhere so with a bit of faffing about in completey unintuitive UI in my by now smoking cockpit i finally find the mission details. By this time i'm already starting to lose the will to play this game,but i'm no quitter especially when this game cost me 40 quid.so i go back to the system map i can see the station but can't set the destination from there ..Ok Errr hmmm..after another quick session of faffing about i find the station on the nav panel and set destination align ship throttle up i've learnt that 1. Now which button is it to start warp Errr Hmmmm .. HJK or L i know its 1 of those.. so i go for H but kinda caught "J" at the same time but it initiated supercruise,well atleast i'd narrowed it down to 2 keys!! Anyway after overshooting the station a couple of times,i finally get there,open nav panel request to dock and it was denied...WHAT!! WHY!! I'm on a mission,ok perhaps i did leave something back at the station,so i head back to station where i got the mission,more messing about there trying to find some document's,but couldn't find any...so went back out to the drop off station,still docking request denied..more internet searching to no avail.So had to abandon the mission which i got fined 1400 credits for ....brilliant

If you had this game in Beta,i can see you having no problems with this game. But for us complete novices, it's a total nightmare trying to just do the basics. Which could easily be covered in a 5 minute gameplay tutorial done by the developers as part of the game rather than a couple of hours of almost pulling your hair out and endless web searches! I don't understand as to why it's been done it like this, i mean it has good combat tutorials but nothing on simple basic navigation from say sun to station...
After i have now put quite a few hours into this game, i've worked alot of it out for myself, i can't really say other than the combat it's been that much fun. More just frustration trying to stumble around the game UI and the net just to play it. Worth £40 no way...not right now...if i had played a demo of this in it's current state i never would of parted with my money.

 

[Dweezil_Moon]

I might be wrong, but isn't there a mission in the tutorial menu called 'traveling' which tells you how to jump to another system? I don't know for sure as, as far as I know it, it appeared in Beta3 and I already knew how to travel.

 

[Viajero]

Yeh, starting in ED can be a bit daunting.

I typically recommend to first watch all the official tutorials and to download Forger's great manual:

A) Forgers manual, full of info and lore, including detailed descriptions of all game mechanics (150+ pages of pure awesome): https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=34437

B) Official Tutorial videos (I believe they are now accessible within the game):

Starport services (menus in station etc): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnA7nOvolFY

Travel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCIloJa2vS4

Docking/undocking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weAoY7kw2NM

Galaxy and system map: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89hHj5LFvI

Basic flight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crL9H_Vx68Y

Basic combat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBcSqCOatiY



In any event many of the vets around will be here helping with any questions so ask away and we ll help!

 

[technophebe]

I experienced the same frustrations as you did when I started playing.

My new players guide is close to complete now and has been written specifically to fill all those holes in the official manuals (what official manuals?), you should find it useful.

 

[GregRedd]

I second (third?) the "Travel Tutorial" mission, helped me a lot on my Day 1.

Also, definitely have a look at Forgers Manual that @Viajero linked to above. It's huge, detailed and regularly updated. In fact I'm looking through it at the moment for some info on station types I'm trying to find. A great source to keep open in the background and Alt-Tab to when you need info. (But only when you're docked in a station! Remember, time and environment don't stop when you're in space.)

Oh, and the document/data delivery missions use no physical ship space. Once you Accept the mission, check your Transactions screen on the left panel to confirm the destination and time still available. Then, before you launch,using the system map, check the destination stations import needs, head to the Commodity Market and load up all you can carry of what they need. That way when you get to the courier mission destination you can claim the Credits for delivering the documents from the Bulletin Board, and make some extra Credits in their Market too.

 

[Sunjunkiesi]

There are 6 superb training videos under a section called training on the launcher. The videos take less time to watch than it used to take to load elite onto the BBC micro. I honestly don't know how anyone could even get started in the game without watching these videos.

It's a hell of a learning curve, I've not even started to understand the nuances, but watching the videos mean you can do the basics.

 

[Mudbath]

hey thanks for the replys and helpful links....I suppose i'm gonna have to concede that i'm gonna have to rely on a load of youtube vids just to play this game Oh well 40 quid not so well spent

 

[technophebe]

> this <

 

[Enride]

Hello all
i bought this game the day after release, I don't think a game has ever left me feeling quite mad in the first hour of play. Like other people have mentioned on here already...The tutorials in game are seriously lacking. Piloting the ship is not the issue as that just takes a bit of practice, but trying to get on with everything else is just an endless chore of web searches and youtube videos just to play the basic's.

For example i start in station in my ship, after a bit of time trying to work out what to actually do in the unintuitive UI, i finally find the bulletin board..after a web search,cool heres where i can find missions..in....the...bulletin...board right ok no way you could just call it the i dunno maybe the "mission board" Theres only 2 i could actually do 1's a bounty hunting mission and 1 is a delivery..so i opt for the delivery mission best to start easy i think. So no cargo needed in the ship as i'm just the messenger.... i think....hmm not sure it does say i need to take some documents but also says no cargo space needed. Hmmm i look around for the documents but don't have a clue where to look,so i spend what seems like ages opening up the station services then going back to cockpit flitting from 1 panel to the next then opening up the station services again so on and so forth. But i seem to have exhausted all the places to look for them so i concede and check out the web (again) for some pointers,but no luck there so i take it i just need to arrive at the station perhaps ...maybe... i don't know, i'll soon find out.That was a 30 minute mess around in itself ...so i set the destination from inside the station,just by typing the system name in the search tab on the galaxy map,nice and easy. Right so time to undock and leave the station with an air of i dunno uncertainess!! anyway I get out into space, Right errr..... now what do i do never got shown how to use the warp drive....oh well i'll start again to try and fathom out what i gotta do.....how hard can it be, align the ship and hit "w" maybe? er no....ok errr hhmmm not sure i don't want to ALT TAB out again and look it up on the net... why the hell should i have to, this is just the basics of the game! i've already been there once looking at youtube vids just to get this far ....Right.... Err ....i'll just keep pressing buttons something is bound to happen..... ahhh ok 1 of them worked not sure which 1 did it was either HJK or L. Right she's telling me to throttle up ok..i can do that no problem ...and before i know it i'm in warp then a few seconds later out of warp...then very shortly after i crash straight into the sun,alarms going off smoke and sparks in the cockpit...WOW that was unexpected...now all that's over with i really need to get to the station i wanna finish my first mission, and my ship already needs repairs!!

so i sit there looking around for the station in space...nope cant see anything Hmmm... i'll look on the system map that makes sense, right it would help if i could remember the station name! Right i'll just look for the mission details in 1 of the panels in the cockpit that wil be the answer ...now where do i find that Hmmmm gotta be here somewhere so with a bit of faffing about in completey unintuitive UI in my by now smoking cockpit i finally find the mission details. By this time i'm already starting to lose the will to play this game,but i'm no quitter especially when this game cost me 40 quid.so i go back to the system map i can see the station but can't set the destination from there ..Ok Errr hmmm..after another quick session of faffing about i find the station on the nav panel and set destination align ship throttle up i've learnt that 1. Now which button is it to start warp Errr Hmmmm .. HJK or L i know its 1 of those.. so i go for H but kinda caught "J" at the same time but it initiated supercruise,well atleast i'd narrowed it down to 2 keys!! Anyway after overshooting the station a couple of times,i finally get there,open nav panel request to dock and it was denied...WHAT!! WHY!! I'm on a mission,ok perhaps i did leave something back at the station,so i head back to station where i got the mission,more messing about there trying to find some document's,but couldn't find any...so went back out to the drop off station,still docking request denied..more internet searching to no avail.So had to abandon the mission which i got fined 1400 credits for ....brilliant

If you had this game in Beta,i can see you having no problems with this game. But for us complete novices, it's a total nightmare trying to just do the basics. Which could easily be covered in a 5 minute gameplay tutorial done by the developers as part of the game rather than a couple of hours of almost pulling your hair out and endless web searches! I don't understand as to why it's been done it like this, i mean it has good combat tutorials but nothing on simple basic navigation from say sun to station...
After i have now put quite a few hours into this game, i've worked alot of it out for myself, i can't really say other than the combat it's been that much fun. More just frustration trying to stumble around the game UI and the net just to play it. Worth £40 no way...not right now...if i had played a demo of this in it's current state i never would of parted with my money.

We had the beta, yes, but still had to learn everything the same way hou do.
In fact, much of the guide and tutorials available for you guys now are actually written by beta players who themselves figured these things out without any outside help at all.

I agree that ED lacks proper tuta and guide/manual, it would have been one of the priorities to get those done prerelease, but if we can learn these things during beta, through bugs and issue and downed servers and dodgy connections, then you can surely learn it now.

I heard a rumor about a digital manual to be released this week (christmas present perhaps?) but its nothing official.

 

[Mudbath]

We had the beta, yes, but still had to learn everything the same way hou do.
In fact, much of the guide and tutorials available for you guys now are actually written by beta players who themselves figured these things out without any outside help at all.

I agree that ED lacks proper tuta and guide/manual, it would have been one of the priorities to get those done prerelease, but if we can learn these things during beta, through bugs and issue and downed servers and dodgy connections, then you can surely learn it now.

I heard a rumor about a digital manual to be released this week (christmas present perhaps?) but its nothing official.

My point is this is not a Beta (apparantly!), You bought into Beta knowing the game was in developement so of course you had to do it yourself!! I didn't buy into Beta because i didn't want tha aggro, my complaint is that you have to use external last minute youtube vids they've made,or the far better vids and new player guides the Beta testers have made,which you have to keep alt tabbing out to for reference..should be ingame interactive tutorials for all the game mechanics not just combat...the combat is the easy part.....not much too it is there...aim ship and shoot...not exactly rocket science...This is just a last minute dash of a release just in time for christmas!! with a....that'll do we'll just leave the rest upto the community approach..and this cost 40 quid.... what a joke!! and a bad 1 at that. they should of had everything ready pre release. That's the whole point of beta testing isn't it!!

 

[stanima]

I am amazed that no-one has ragged on you for being fussy, stupid or something else obnoxious.

There are some very, shall we say "ardent" fanbois who jump on anything that looks like criticism of the developer, the game, the steep learning curve, basically any difficulties that new buyers experience. They forget that this title will be in the remaindered bin by the summer if they turn off potential users by criticizing their intelligence and calling them whiny little girls.

Of course when it is only sold through Frontier's website it will always be a fringe title. I really hope they expand sales channels soon so the game will get a decent following. But they will need to make things a touch more user friendly or it will be a tough sell.

I sympathize with you and completely understand your position. I played the original game in 1986, and had fond memories. Unfortunately like the saying "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" my memories are a lot better than the reality. The world, and expectations have changed since 1984 but the developers appear to have gone with a re-issue of the original with a bigger universe, better graphics and made it an MMO (well, not really, unless you consider 32 simultaneous players MMO). But they seem to have retained all the counter-intuitive and dumb aspects.

I will learn to love it, because I want to validate my memories. But I would not blame anyone for trying it and after an hour deciding they wasted their money and abandon it.

 

[Wizaerd]

Hello all
i bought this game the day after release, I don't think a game has ever left me feeling quite mad in the first hour of play. Like other people have mentioned on here already...The tutorials in game are seriously lacking. Piloting the ship is not the issue as that just takes a bit of practice, but trying to get on with everything else is just an endless chore of web searches and youtube videos just to play the basic's.

--- snipped for brevity ---

I'm not buying your story. I'm completely new to Elite, having never played the beta, and never having played the original. While the UI could certainly be a bit more intuitive and use friendly, it's nowhere near as bad as you made it out to be. I've had all sorts of complaints about this game, and the lack thereof, but your story just doesn't seem possible. The video tutorial series recommended before jumping into the game point out all these pitfalls. After watching the traveling tutorial, I never once have overshot my destination, nor have I ever flown into the sun. Don't get me wrong, I hate the SC system, I find it tedious and a huge PITA, but it's easy enough to control. And I'm a complete newbie at all this.

Did you honestly think you could just jump in and play without looking at any reference material whatsoever? Right on the launcher, links to the videos teaching everything (well not even close to everything) you need to play this game.

 

[Mudbath]

My story doesn't seem possible!! what are you saying i'm lying!! no i didn't think i could just jump straight in and play...but what i did think was for £40 there would be interactive tutorials especially for the hard to understand UI, it's just easier for new players to learn the game with interactive tutorials rather than youtube links ..you are obviously happy with alt tabbing out to tutorial vids... I'm not..

 

[Mudbath]

I am amazed that no-one has ragged on you for being fussy, stupid or something else obnoxious.

There are some very, shall we say "ardent" fanbois who jump on anything that looks like criticism of the developer, the game, the steep learning curve, basically any difficulties that new buyers experience. They forget that this title will be in the remaindered bin by the summer if they turn off potential users by criticizing their intelligence and calling them whiny little girls.

Of course when it is only sold through Frontier's website it will always be a fringe title. I really hope they expand sales channels soon so the game will get a decent following. But they will need to make things a touch more user friendly or it will be a tough sell.

I sympathize with you and completely understand your position. I played the original game in 1986, and had fond memories. Unfortunately like the saying "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" my memories are a lot better than the reality. The world, and expectations have changed since 1984 but the developers appear to have gone with a re-issue of the original with a bigger universe, better graphics and made it an MMO (well, not really, unless you consider 32 simultaneous players MMO). But they seem to have retained all the counter-intuitive and dumb aspects.

I will learn to love it, because I want to validate my memories. But I would not blame anyone for trying it and after an hour deciding they wasted their money and abandon it.

Exaxtly ...For me the steep learning curve is just for basic game navigation and nothing else!! seems to be a bit of a nostalgia trip from frontier with nothing new other than the graphics...i played this back in '84 and i was really looking forward to this release...i was thinkin something along the lines of EVE online with a cockpit.... For such a huge universe this game right now is too linear with not much holding my interest...But i'm trying kicking and screaming admittedly but i'm trying!!

 

[Fiddlesticks]

I found the tutorials pretty good.
Taught me everything I needed to know.

 

[thorn-]

but what i did think was for £40 there would be interactive tutorials especially for the hard to understand UI, it's just easier for new players to learn the game with interactive tutorials

Mudbath -

There are interactive tutorials. Right there in the game menu. Like 10 of them at least, on flying, combat, docking, departure, and hyperspace, etc. Did you not see them, play them - or did both, and just found them unhelpful? There's also the flight manual (i don't have the link, others have posted it though) which I sat down and read before bed one night, as my GF was playing Candy Crush on her tablet and watching some classic movie on MeTV. Lots of good info there, if you haven't checked it out.

 

[Mudbath]

i quitt too boring same old same old