Game options for single player

[Poacher886]

Just a bit confused about the options available to me if i purchase this sim after release.

Normally, in all games i play, i like the single player sandbox mode (offline), I like the world to be my world and pick-up where i left off.

With ED i had envisioned doing the same, playing as a trader / explorer. My question is, if i decide i want to play as described but quite fancy the idea of Real players in my universe, can this be done.

I know of course there is an online version, but will it enable me to play the sandbox as if offline and carry on from my last save point, but in a universe with real players?

Also, is there anything to stop idiots just going round shooting at anyone for a laugh, i.e could i still expect a realistic game where i can go about my business without threats from that which should not be?

 

[Lestat]

Not sure how they will do that. Would it be 3 modes
Single player offline
MMO player online with other players no pvp
Multiplayer

Me I would like to be able to switch modes depending what I am doing at the time.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

From what we have been told and what I have seen in the Alpha the modes we have are:

• Single player Offline (PvE) - Unless you download updates you see no changes in the game other than the ones you make.
• Single player Online (PvE) - You get the changes that are made in the multiple player universe but you do not see other players.
• Full Multiplayer online (PvP only) - This is like a full sandbox MMO space sim. Ever evolving and the actions you take change the universe. You see both NPC and 1000 of other players. There is only one shard so everyone plays together. This is the core aspect where the main changes we see in game are made. Changes in this filter down to the Single player online but changes in other modes do no filter up. It is PvP only out of the gate no PvP flagging or PvE areas.
• Co-op Mode - I also think there was mention of a limited Co-op mode where you see changes online from the multiplayer persistent universe but where you can fly together in a group of friends only scenario.

But you cannot switch between them. You cannot get an awesome ship equipped and lots of money in the single player game and then switch to the Full multiplayer version. It would be like cheating. You choose one style and stick with it.

 

[Styggron]

Just a bit confused about the options available to me if i purchase this sim after release.

Normally, in all games i play, i like the single player sandbox mode (offline), I like the world to be my world and pick-up where i left off.

With ED i had envisioned doing the same, playing as a trader / explorer. My question is, if i decide i want to play as described but quite fancy the idea of Real players in my universe, can this be done.

I know of course there is an online version, but will it enable me to play the sandbox as if offline and carry on from my last save point, but in a universe with real players?

Also, is there anything to stop idiots just going round shooting at anyone for a laugh, i.e could i still expect a realistic game where i can go about my business without threats from that which should not be?

I'm a SP offline player too.
However there are some advantages for SP online. You basically get all the richness of the online universe BUT will only be interacting with NPC's

THere is also another one, you can play online but ONLY with select people, ie your friends ONLY so you won't have to deal with anyone else if you so desire.

Hope this helps.

 

[Andrew Sayers]

I don't think there's a mode that exactly matches what you're looking for. As TheDarkKnight says you can play offline (so the world won't change when you're away), or in a private group (so you can meet only your choice of players), but there's no mode that provides both at the same time.

There's been a lot of discussion about ways to discourage idiotic behaviour, but like Unix ED wasn't designed to stop players from doing stupid things, as that would also stop them from doing clever things. Hopefully criminality, cost of ship repair etc. will keep the "all" group vaguely sensible, but playing in a private group is the only way to be certain you'll never be threatened by that which should not be.

 

[Ceeege]

Also, from what I understand you may ignore other commanders in the online modes. I am torn between the modes as I'm not interested in the PvP side of things but do love the idea of an evolving universe especially one with co-op play.

Maybe when things start out, some commanders may gain a reputation which could place them on others ignore lists. Word gets around and maybe then you could play in a universe with like minded commanders but there will always be a chance of bumping into PvP'ers no matter how long your own ignore list is.

It's a tough choice if, like me, you have a pre-conceived idea of how you'd want to play the game.

 

[Patrick_68000]

And in all these modes, I think there will be also the sub modes "Normal" and "Ironman"

 

[Poacher886]

Ok, thanks.

Im not really sure on what you mean Ref: Single player (Online) by... "you the get the changes that online brings" and "you get the evolving world' ?

Surely the only thing that is changeable or evolving in the ED world is the economy, which would do so even in offline world! ....there is no faction wars or station / empire building from what i've read.

 

[nats]

Im not really sure on what you mean Ref: Single player (Online) by... "you the get the changes that online brings" and "you get the evolving world' ?

Surely the only thing that is changeable or evolving in the ED world is the economy, which would do so even in offline world! ....there is no faction wars or station / empire building from what i've read.

Frontier will expand the game gradually to include more systems. Initially the game will be of limited scope - although it will be pretty big no doubt even then - but possibly be very computer generated and lack a degree of variety at the start. I am sure they will also alter the game gradually to destroy some systems at war, create flashpoints, create new stations, add special missions, change the politics, introduce alien contact, expand human space, add more interesting worlds to land on/tour etc as time goes on. The game will have some automated systems such as economy trading and pilot AI etc but some areas will be changed be Frontier directly and to benefit from these changes you will have to play online or at least be able to receive regular update downloads.

Overall I am sorry that Frontier are not doing a completely single player offline game because that is what I always wanted for Elite 4. We are losing a lot of the old gameplay that I loved because of that decision. So I hope the benefits of playing the changing online game will outweigh the substantial pain that online gaming often causes to players like me. I dont play any online games normally.

The problem with all multiplayer games for me is that many people will start cheating and/or causing grief to other players if they are just bored, or fed up with struggling with the normal gameplay, or for no other reason than they are that kind of idiot. Frontier better have a flipping good method of dealing with that.

There could also be a problem with some players buying good starting points so that they dont mind restarting after quickly dying due to ramming player ships or whatever for 'fun'. I hear a lot of multiplayer online flights sims are ruined by ramming suicide idiots who keep doing it for some easy points - especially ramming players flying bombers etc because those provide higher rewards than killing fighter planes. I cant imagine anything worse than spending time getting all the way to a target in a bomber and then being taken out time and time again by a Kamakazi idiot. Which is why I dont play those games.

Those kind of players could ruin the game if harsh measures are not introduced to deal with them.

 

[Havoc]

Let's say you go out exploring somewhere and find a habitable planet. You return to the core worlds and hand the coordinates of said planet to your contact in the Federation. The Federation then decides that it is a good idea to colonize that planet. And at some point in the near future you take another look at that planet you found and see a nice colony there.

Those are the kind of changes you can then also get in SP online mode.

 

[Karl]

There are plans for injected events. I'm guessing that could be systems revolting, influenced by multiplayer actions. And that SP online would see those changes to the world, even if he didn't participate in them. SP offline I don't think will see those changes at all.

I haven't decided if I'm gonna play SP offline or SP online yet. But I'm pretty sure I won't ever touch MP PvP stuff. I'm just too old and too unresponsive for that twitchy stuff

 

[KING5TON]

Ok, thanks.

Im not really sure on what you mean Ref: Single player (Online) by... "you the get the changes that online brings" and "you get the evolving world' ?

Surely the only thing that is changeable or evolving in the ED world is the economy, which would do so even in offline world! ....there is no faction wars or station / empire building from what i've read.

Yes there are.
In the online game modes they all share the same meta server which runs the background simulation.
The background simulation runs not just the economy but a whole host of things. Is a certain system at war? are they building a space station? are they under some kind of threat like famine? plus a ton of other things we don't yet know about.

It's my understanding that all players can affect what's happening in any of the the online game modes.

e.g.
You are playing single player online and side with the empire in a fight over a system with the federation. You help the empire win the fight and that system will be under empire control across all online games, yours, the full MP players, the co-op only players, everyone.

It could be that actually it wasn't just you that won the war for the empire but 20 other single player online players, 50 multiplayer online players and 10 co-op players that contributed to the empire's victory in the sector.

One thing to note is that I think that no one person will have a massive impact on in game events, you might tip the balance on your own and lots of other people will tip it more.

The devs will also inject events into the game's online universe which may result in some cool scenarios and game play.

So, unless you for some reason can't connect to the internet I'd highly recommend playing online single player if you don't want to play with other people. I think everyone that can should give the multiplayer version a try at least once. You might find it's not as bad as what you imagine and you might actually come to prefer it over playing by yourself.

 

[Cosmo Bozo]

Ok, thanks.

Im not really sure on what you mean Ref: Single player (Online) by... "you the get the changes that online brings" and "you get the evolving world' ?

Surely the only thing that is changeable or evolving in the ED world is the economy, which would do so even in offline world! ....there is no faction wars or station / empire building from what i've read.

There will be civil wars in systems, along with revolutions, famines, events like that, Players will be able to take part and effect things to some extent.
In single player online you will see the effects, offline you wont (and I don't know if the events will happen at all)

Info here

http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6305

You can't go online with an offline character, presumably to prevent cheating.

 

[Zieman]

So, unless you for some reason can't connect to the internet I'd highly recommend playing online single player if you don't want to play with other people. I think everyone that can should give the multiplayer version a try at least once. You might find it's not as bad as what you imagine and you might actually come to prefer it over playing by yourself.

This.

I'm not fond of competitive multiplayer, but one of the reasons why I backed E: D is the possibility to meet (and perhaps fly with) friends in Elite universe.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

The changes that you could see via being online, either in the multiplayer universe or single player could be:

• Economic crisis that destabilises a sector. This could lead to nearby planets trying to invade. You may need to choose sides etc.
  
• New resources found. A gold rush. In that area a non inhabited planet suddenly gets a colony. New trade defence opportunities.
  
• Someone gets assassinated, maybe a player was doing an escort mission that went wrong. Because they did not keep someone alive there is now a war breaking out and two sectors have gone from stable to hostile.
  
• A planet starts to grow. Over time you see a space station getting built. You may have to supply recourses to it or take VIPs to the opening ceremony. Because the planet never paid protection money raiders may keep attacking until it can be reinforced with a military presence.

etc...

These are what you could get in the online universe. Each area changing something. Maybe a planet or an entire sector. They do not reset like in other MMOs. Once it is done you live with the consequences. Which side did you choose. Are you welcome or an enemy because of what you decided.

You will get something similar in the single player offline game too. But vastly smaller in scope. Online 1000s players performing actions means a greater chance of noticeable changes. Offline you are just one person. Change will come but slowly... and you will be the only one that sees it.

Also offline the updates could be limited as what you have changed and what has changed online may conflict.

 

[Robbie]

<snip>
You can't go online with an offline character, presumably to prevent cheating.

Which makes me wonder: could we switch to offline mode with our online character's stuff?

For example: what If I chose to play single-player online for many months, but finally decided it wasn't for me anymore? I wonder if I could transfer my online character's accumulated wealth/status to offline mode? I wouldn't especially want to start a new game in offline mode if I'd invested much time and effort into online playing.

 

[KING5TON]

Which makes me wonder: could we switch to offline mode with our online character's stuff?

For example: what If I chose to play single-player online for many months, but finally decided it wasn't for me anymore? I wonder if I could transfer my online character's accumulated wealth/status to offline mode? I wouldn't especially want to start a new game in offline mode if I'd invested much time and effort into online playing.

It's not been confirmed as far as I'm aware.
I vaguely remember there was talk of it in one of DB's video's but there were concerns of players cheating in the offline game and then bringing the results into the online universe.
e.g. I play offline and hack the game to give myself the biggest and best ship, weapons and cargo and then join the multiplayer game.

 

[The Space Pirate]

Overall I am sorry that Frontier are not doing a completely single player offline game because that is what I always wanted for Elite 4. We are losing a lot of the old gameplay that I loved because of that decision. So I hope the benefits of playing the changing online game will outweigh the substantial pain that online gaming often causes to players like me. I dont play any online games normally.

The problem with all multiplayer games for me is that many people will start cheating and/or causing grief to other players if they are just bored, or fed up with struggling with the normal gameplay, or for no other reason than they are that kind of idiot. Frontier better have a flipping good method of dealing with that.

There could also be a problem with some players buying good starting points so that they dont mind restarting after quickly dying due to ramming player ships or whatever for 'fun'. I hear a lot of multiplayer online flights sims are ruined by ramming suicide idiots who keep doing it for some easy points - especially ramming players flying bombers etc because those provide higher rewards than killing fighter planes. I cant imagine anything worse than spending time getting all the way to a target in a bomber and then being taken out time and time again by a Kamakazi idiot. Which is why I dont play those games.

Hmmm. They certainly better have a damn good method for dealing with it, otherwise it'll completely ruin the game. If it ends up like that, I'll be going with SP + regular updates.

 

[Poacher886]

The changes that you could see via being online, either in the multiplayer universe or single player could be:

• Economic crisis that destabilises a sector. This could lead to nearby planets trying to invade. You may need to choose sides etc.
  
• New resources found. A gold rush. In that area a non inhabited planet suddenly gets a colony. New trade defence opportunities.
  
• Someone gets assassinated, maybe a player was doing an escort mission that went wrong. Because they did not keep someone alive there is now a war breaking out and two sectors have gone from stable to hostile.
  
• A planet starts to grow. Over time you see a space station getting built. You may have to supply recourses to it or take VIPs to the opening ceremony. Because the planet never paid protection money raiders may keep attacking until it can be reinforced with a military presence.

etc...

These are what you could get in the online universe. Each area changing something. Maybe a planet or an entire sector. They do not reset like in other MMOs. Once it is done you live with the consequences. Which side did you choose. Are you welcome or an enemy because of what you decided.

You will get something similar in the single player offline game too. But vastly smaller in scope. Online 1000s players performing actions means a greater chance of noticeable changes. Offline you are just one person. Change will come but slowly... and you will be the only one that sees it.

Also offline the updates could be limited as what you have changed and what has changed online may conflict.

But all of this does happen, and could happen without being online as it does in the X-series ! Wars happen, sectors change hands, sides are chosen and DLC adds content and big changes to the universe.

I still dont see why you have to be in online multiplayer mode to see the world evolve?
I mean if i dock at a station and save my game in online mode will i be able to pick-up where i left off with all my credits / equipment / status etc intact?

The only advantage or indeed difference i can see from the current X-series (which of course is single player only), is that the world can contimue to evolve even your not playing.

What happens when new (paid-for content arrives), some will buy and some will not meaning people will have a different game, what then?

 

[Alpha Protocol]

Ok, thanks.

Im not really sure on what you mean Ref: Single player (Online) by... "you the get the changes that online brings" and "you get the evolving world' ?

Surely the only thing that is changeable or evolving in the ED world is the economy, which would do so even in offline world! ....there is no faction wars or station / empire building from what i've read.

Single-player online: You play in the evolving online world without seeing other players. The universe evolves as players discover new systems, events, etc., and the developers inject events.

Single-player offline: You play offline. Your world is only occasionally updated through game patches or expansions packs.

Overall I am sorry that Frontier are not doing a completely single player offline game because that is what I always wanted for Elite 4. We are losing a lot of the old gameplay that I loved because of that decision. So I hope the benefits of playing the changing online game will outweigh the substantial pain that online gaming often causes to players like me. I dont play any online games normally.

The problem with all multiplayer games for me is that many people will start cheating and/or causing grief to other players if they are just bored, or fed up with struggling with the normal gameplay, or for no other reason than they are that kind of idiot. Frontier better have a flipping good method of dealing with that.

First, there is an "Single-player offline only mode". Secondly, there is going to be an ignore feature. If someone is being a complete idiot, just ignore them. You'll never see them again unless you "clear" your ignore list.

Which makes me wonder: could we switch to offline mode with our online character's stuff?

For example: what If I chose to play single-player online for many months, but finally decided it wasn't for me anymore? I wonder if I could transfer my online character's accumulated wealth/status to offline mode? I wouldn't especially want to start a new game in offline mode if I'd invested much time and effort into online playing.

The way I understand it is no. Offline characters are made offline.