Frontier - what has happened to your Planets? (Episode 2: Beige Strikes Back)

[Obsidian Ant]

EDIT 3: This comment was posted on my YouTube channel, it's a reply to a player from Frontier Support on the beige planets:

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Thanks for getting back to us and apologies for the delay in responding to you.

With a game as complex and massive as Elite there's often things we have to go digging for to learn more about, getting context for this digging is part of our job so please do forgive us for needing to ask further questions on things like this! I do believe these changes have been made purposefully, however they aren't fully intended to bring dullness to the game but instead more accuracy.

I do side with you though that some of the original planets that have since been edited don't look quite as dramatic as they used to, however you'll be happy to know that the atmospheric planets are much more likely to have very dramatic landscapes even as we try to stick within our boundaries of the scientifically accurate.

Sadly I can't confirm if the current changes are fixed but finding that line between really awesome looking planets and scientifically accurate vistas on distant planets is a constant battle. I'd actually suggest submitting your feedback about the changes to the existing planets on our Suggestions and Feedback forum, contrary to popular belief they are viewed (albeit by non-logged in) developers periodically to get a feel for things exactly like this so it's always worth doing.

If there's anything more specific we can help you with, please do let us know as we're happy to go investigating further for you

All the best,
Vanguard

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ORIGINAL POST

So, Ziggy made a thread a while ago, about the beigification of the galaxy. It's something I had noticed myself - but visual proof is hard to come by as quite often most planets I have footage of are tens of thousands of light years away, so it's difficult to get back to do comparison shots.

I've gone through a load of my old videos and noticed just how varied and impressive many of the planets were. Today, I just cannot find that variety in game. Most of the planets are indeed beige.

I then came across a clip that contained a system map from version 2.0 of the game. So, I went and made a side-by-side comparison with version 2.2.

[video=youtube_share;XmviApYiIls]https://youtu.be/XmviApYiIls[/video]



So it's true - things have turned beige. And not only that, but entire stars have also changed class!


EDIT: This is the first planet in the system from the map in the first video. This is how the surface appeared in 2.0:

[video=youtube_share;mplOinKFkBY]https://youtu.be/mplOinKFkBY[/video]

I haven't got a comparison unfortunately. But anyone who is able to get there at least has something to compare to.



EDIT 2: Here is another planet comparison 2.0 to 2.2 - you can see the colours have totally changed:

[video=youtube_share;DXDhVXBfJy0]https://youtu.be/DXDhVXBfJy0[/video]

 

[babelfisch]

Beige is the new black.

 

[Obsidian Ant]

Beige is the new black.

Thing is, it's not all that funny really. So many people enjoy exploration and one of the greatest pleasures of that is finding variations and unique locations. This has now taken a dramatic hit for the worse.

 

[Enderby]

Are there now beige holes instead of black holes?

 

[JesusRocks1988]

So, Ziggy made a thread a while ago, about the beigification of the galaxy. It's something I had noticed myself - but visual proof is hard to come by as quite often most planets I have footage of are tens of thousands of light years away, so it's difficult to get back to do comparison shots.

I've gone through a load of my old videos and noticed just how varied and impressive many of the planets were. Today, I just cannot find that variety in game. Most of the planets are indeed beige.

I then came across a clip that contained a system map from version 2.0 of the game. So, I went and made a side-by-side comparison with version 2.2.

https://youtu.be/XmviApYiIls



So it's true - things have turned beige. And not only that, but entire stars have also changed class!

The change to T-Tauri stars was actually in the changelog... rather than just being white fuzz, they're choosing colours that better represent their spectral class.

 

[Michael Brookes]

So, Ziggy made a thread a while ago, about the beigification of the galaxy. It's something I had noticed myself - but visual proof is hard to come by as quite often most planets I have footage of are tens of thousands of light years away, so it's difficult to get back to do comparison shots.

I've gone through a load of my old videos and noticed just how varied and impressive many of the planets were. Today, I just cannot find that variety in game. Most of the planets are indeed beige.

I then came across a clip that contained a system map from version 2.0 of the game. So, I went and made a side-by-side comparison with version 2.2.

https://youtu.be/XmviApYiIls



So it's true - things have turned beige. And not only that, but entire stars have also changed class!

We'll take a look.

Michael

 

[Obsidian Ant]

The change to T-Tauri stars was actually in the changelog... rather than just being white fuzz, they're choosing colours that better represent their spectral class.

Ah ok - that explains that one then, thanks. I would be very interested to hear about the beige planets though...

 

[CMDR-AD]

I guess my recent areas of activity in the bubble haven't been really impacted by this? I've actually been bookmarking a few planets since 2.2, that have such cool colors and surfaces. Incredible oranges, blues, pinks, even purple hues.

Just last night I was thinking that I need to get back out there in my explorer Keelback/Taipan/SRV and revisit some of these I've marked. And I really want to get back into geyser/volcanism hunting. Probably do this in my next play session.

 

[Obsidian Ant]

We'll take a look.

Michael

Awesome!

 

[Obnoxious_Gamer]

We'll take a look.

Michael

I'm going to quote this a lot.

 

[Michael Brookes]

Ah ok - that explains that one then, thanks. I would be very interested to hear about the beige planets though...

There was a change in the system map to better reflect the actual colouration of the in game planet, although it is a bit more approximated than the in-game view. Do the map miniatures match the actual surface of the planet?

Michael

 

[Kay Ross]

And not only that, but entire stars have also changed class!

In 2.2 a bug was fixed regarding how the visual representation of some classes of star was chosen. They should not have changed class in terms of data, mass, radius, composition, temperature etc, just colouration.
edit - ninja'd by JesusRocks1988

 

[Ydiss]

I've noticed most planets are brown/beige now. They look better than they did due to the improvements in 2.2 but there is a distinct lack of variation now, compared to 2.1.

 

[Obnoxious_Gamer]

I guess my recent areas of activity in the bubble haven't been really impacted by this? I've actually been bookmarking a few planets since 2.2, that have such cool colors and surfaces. Incredible oranges, blues, pinks, even purple hues.

Just last night I was thinking that I need to get back out there in my explorer Keelback/Taipan/SRV and revisit some of these I've marked. And I really want to get back into geyser/volcanism hunting. Probably do this in my next play session.

I'm guessing all those colorful planets were icy, or rocky ice planets?

 

[JesusRocks1988]

edit - ninja'd by JesusRocks1988

 

[Obsidian Ant]

There was a change in the system map to better reflect the actual colouration of the in game planet, although it is a bit more approximated than the in-game view. Do the map miniatures match the actual surface of the planet?

Michael

That's the part that is harder to verify. The planets are so far away, I cannot get a side-by-side comparison. However, I do have footage of the planet surface that I showed in the map above - at that time the planet was blue / green. This is from version 2.0. It's also using EDFX unfortunately so it isn't a raw surface for you. If you're able to pop to that planet with your Dev abilities, you will be able to get the comparison.

I have noticed that other planets around the galaxy have changed quite significantly. And there are other people saying this as well. All anecdotal evidence unfortunately, but I think I probably have one other side-by-side clip I can dig out.

Anyway, here's the surface of that planet from the system map video above:

[video=youtube_share;mplOinKFkBY]https://youtu.be/mplOinKFkBY[/video]

- - - Updated - - -

In 2.2 a bug was fixed regarding how the visual representation of some classes of star was chosen. They should not have changed class in terms of data, mass, radius, composition, temperature etc, just colouration.
edit - ninja'd by JesusRocks1988

Thanks, that's good to know.

 

[Cmdr J]

I sorely miss my Wensleydale moon. It's way too beige to eat with crackers now. [sulk]

 

[HalloweenWeed]

'Take this with a grain of salt,' because I am a n00b and only played 2.5 months, although it has been at least 30hrs/wk.
I used to see quite a bit of nicely colored gas giants before 2.2. When 2.2 dropped, I had just set off to Maia from Delkar with a surface scanner and ADS. I started scanning all the panetary bodies between Delkar & Maia, ended up scanning about 80 systems, I only had about 12LYr jump range. Went through the Aries Dark Region. I noticed that the gas giants were ALL earthtones, brown and beige. So not only was the scanning a BIG drag on the fun, but not very interesting either. Same 'ol same 'ol.

Now I didn't say anything, because a. I've never been to these systems before, so I don't know how they looked before 2.2; and b. I didn't make any note of the previous beautiful gas giants to go back and look now. That's why what I am saying here is to be "taken with a grain of salt" (taken lightly). FYI.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Hmm Beige.... the next thing there will be tourist trips organised by saga..

Zip up cardigan anyone?

 

[Kay Ross]

'Take this with a grain of salt,' because I am a n00b and only played 2.5 months, although it has been at least 30hrs/wk.
I used to see quite a bit of nicely colored gas giants before 2.2. When 2.2 dropped, I had just set off to Maia from Delkar with a surface scanner and ADS. I started scanning all the panetary bodies between Delkar & Maia, ended up scanning about 80 systems, I only had about 12LYr jump range. Went through the Aries Dark Region. I noticed that the gas giants were ALL earthtones, brown and beige. So not only was the scanning a BIG drag on the fun, but not very interesting either. Same 'ol same 'ol.

Now I didn't say anything, because a. I've never been to these systems before, so I don't know how they looked before 2.2; and b. I didn't make any note of the previous beautiful gas giants to go back and look now. That's why what I am saying here is to be "taken with a grain of salt" (taken lightly). FYI.

There were no gas giant changes for 2.2, but if you do find one that has gone wrong, please let us know
Additional info: The gas giant colours are based off the temperature of the upper cloud layers. If you're getting mostly beige/brown ones, those would be Sudarsky class I examples with ammonia clouds. The colour suggests temperature greater than around 70 Kelvin (disclaimer - I don't remember the exact colour transition temperatures off the top of my head).