Though I played a bit of Elite back on a BBC in school and a fair bit more on the Amiga, the vast majority of my time spent in this universe prior to ED was in Frontier. I remember the hours I spent, genuinely excited and enthusiastic to get out there and explore that universe.
This isn't a rant post, or even a complaint post. My intention is to try and describe how I view the differences between the "atmosphere" of the two games (Frontier vs ED) and how they make me feel differently, in the context of the age I was at the time (teenage), the societal context within which the games were released (pre-slump capitalist excess vs post global recession) and the technological context of the times (pre and post-millennial.)
If I think back to the '80s, the near future still promised a great deal that fostered my young imagination. This was before giant space budgets got cut and it became obvious no-one was going back to the moon anytime soon. So flying cars were no closer than they were a decade earlier, but the millennium on the horizon still held out the promise of revolutionary technologies. (We got them, just not the one's we'd been anticipating.) To me, Frontier encapsulated a lot of the wonder and enthusiasm of the time. It really was feasible that we might be holidaying in space within my lifetime. The universe within the game felt bright and optimistic. Somewhere a simple trader might want to reach out into and find their way with wide-open eyes and high ambitions. The universe of ED to me feels much darker, pessimistic and repressive. If I lived in the 34th century of ED, off-planet is not somewhere I think I'd want to go.
Perhaps I'm more jaded now than I was as a kid. I realise now that the daily grind to earn money does not automatically earn you happiness or fulfilment. It's as if my pilot has been forced into a life of endless servitude. It's claustrophobic and unforgiving. The "greed is good" bubble burst long ago and so whilst as a game mechanic trading is as valid as it ever was, I don't find escapism through it. I wouldn't want to actually be that guy.
I know it's coming eventually in ED, but I think the planetary landings in Frontier imbued the game with more than just another place to trade. They were a release for the claustrophobia created in the confines of a cockpit within the endless emptiness of space. Like breaking the surface in a submarine game like Silent Hunter, seeing the sky after a long journey of confinement is a true blessing. (Even if all you actually have to do is look up from your monitor and glance out the window.) At present, I don't sense that anywhere. I have to actually break away from the game to go do something else to relieve that mental pressure. Journeys require a rewarding end. And you need to feel like you can "get out", (even if it's just seeing the sky without actually exiting your craft.) I think by now my pilot is probably a gibbering wreck, bashing his head against the inside of the canopy like a traumatised polar bear in a third-world zoo.
I think 3rd person views also aid this cognitive release. Every time anyone lands an aircraft in Flight Sim, what do they do? Well, they always switch to an outside view to look at the plane. It satisfies something deep within our wandering nature. I find myself switching to ED's outfitting screen when I dock, just because the limited external views ease the release tap slightly in my mind. I envisage my pilot stretching his knees and arching his back before climbing back in and ordering another cargo full of whatevers.
The universe of ED now, to me, makes me feel a bit like a rat in a maze. There's plenty of places to go, but my mind feels locked in. There's nothing to open up my perspective. That's not a criticism of game mechanics, missing features or whatever. It's a perceptual thing about inhabiting the life of a space-farer who's chained to his chair.
[Edit: - Anyone know why this forum always seems to strip out blank lines and carriage returns? It's flipping annoying to have everything turned into a great wall of text.]
This isn't a rant post, or even a complaint post. My intention is to try and describe how I view the differences between the "atmosphere" of the two games (Frontier vs ED) and how they make me feel differently, in the context of the age I was at the time (teenage), the societal context within which the games were released (pre-slump capitalist excess vs post global recession) and the technological context of the times (pre and post-millennial.)
If I think back to the '80s, the near future still promised a great deal that fostered my young imagination. This was before giant space budgets got cut and it became obvious no-one was going back to the moon anytime soon. So flying cars were no closer than they were a decade earlier, but the millennium on the horizon still held out the promise of revolutionary technologies. (We got them, just not the one's we'd been anticipating.) To me, Frontier encapsulated a lot of the wonder and enthusiasm of the time. It really was feasible that we might be holidaying in space within my lifetime. The universe within the game felt bright and optimistic. Somewhere a simple trader might want to reach out into and find their way with wide-open eyes and high ambitions. The universe of ED to me feels much darker, pessimistic and repressive. If I lived in the 34th century of ED, off-planet is not somewhere I think I'd want to go.
Perhaps I'm more jaded now than I was as a kid. I realise now that the daily grind to earn money does not automatically earn you happiness or fulfilment. It's as if my pilot has been forced into a life of endless servitude. It's claustrophobic and unforgiving. The "greed is good" bubble burst long ago and so whilst as a game mechanic trading is as valid as it ever was, I don't find escapism through it. I wouldn't want to actually be that guy.
I know it's coming eventually in ED, but I think the planetary landings in Frontier imbued the game with more than just another place to trade. They were a release for the claustrophobia created in the confines of a cockpit within the endless emptiness of space. Like breaking the surface in a submarine game like Silent Hunter, seeing the sky after a long journey of confinement is a true blessing. (Even if all you actually have to do is look up from your monitor and glance out the window.) At present, I don't sense that anywhere. I have to actually break away from the game to go do something else to relieve that mental pressure. Journeys require a rewarding end. And you need to feel like you can "get out", (even if it's just seeing the sky without actually exiting your craft.) I think by now my pilot is probably a gibbering wreck, bashing his head against the inside of the canopy like a traumatised polar bear in a third-world zoo.
I think 3rd person views also aid this cognitive release. Every time anyone lands an aircraft in Flight Sim, what do they do? Well, they always switch to an outside view to look at the plane. It satisfies something deep within our wandering nature. I find myself switching to ED's outfitting screen when I dock, just because the limited external views ease the release tap slightly in my mind. I envisage my pilot stretching his knees and arching his back before climbing back in and ordering another cargo full of whatevers.
The universe of ED now, to me, makes me feel a bit like a rat in a maze. There's plenty of places to go, but my mind feels locked in. There's nothing to open up my perspective. That's not a criticism of game mechanics, missing features or whatever. It's a perceptual thing about inhabiting the life of a space-farer who's chained to his chair.
[Edit: - Anyone know why this forum always seems to strip out blank lines and carriage returns? It's flipping annoying to have everything turned into a great wall of text.]
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